CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police will keep a watch on the youth who follow the social media accounts of gangsters, in a move to prevent them from falling into the trap of the criminals by getting lured by their flashy lifestyles and easy money.
Sources aware of the initiative said the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of Punjab Police will identify the youth following the Facebook, instagram, X and other social media accounts of the gangsters and counsel them. “Those who ‘like’ the posts of the gangsters or share them will be listed.
The youth, who have not yet fallen into the anti-social elements’ trap but are impressed, will be counselled. District-level counselling centres will be set up to prevent youth from entering the world of crime,” a police source said. “Legal action will be taken against those who have already fallen into the gangsters’ trap.”
A police officer said on condition of anonymity that a recent data revealed at least 70 youth of a sub-division are following the social media accounts of the gangsters.
Highlighting the crackdown on the digital ecosystem of crime, DIG Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said the AGTF is launching a special campaign to monitor mischievous activities on social media. “We have already got 643 pages blocked across social media platforms for glorifying weapons or criminal activities. I appeal to parents to remain vigilant about their children’s activities to ensure that they are not misled,” he said.
Chauhan sounded a note of caution on anti-social elements staying abroad who lure youth with money to commit crimes. He advised the public against facilitating financial transactions via UPI or other digital sources for unknown persons. He warned against picking or dropping packages from unidentified locations, noting that criminals abroad are using “dead letter boxes” to deliver weapon consignments for illegal activities.
Under ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’, the anti-gangster helpline, 93946-93946, has seen a good response from the public since its launch on January 21. “A total of 590 inputs have been received on the dedicated helpline. Out of these, 83 were related to drugs, 35 to extortion, 43 regarding gangsters, 86 concerning illegal weapons, 74 related to personal enmity, 13 for robbery or theft, 11 regarding proclaimed offenders (POs) and two related to immigration fraud, while 97 were categorised as others,” Chauhan said. “These tips led to the registration of 63 FIRs and the arrest of 26 people, including 21 preventive detentions,” the DIG said.
The officer said that the Punjab Police has busted 1,111 modules and arrested 2,868 gangsters since April 2022. Police have recovered from them 2273 weapons and 656 vehicles used in criminal activities.
Craze for easy money and flashy lifestyle
Police will identify the youth following Facebook, instagram, X and other social media accounts of the gangsters and counsel them. The youth get lured by gansters’ flashy lifestyles and easy money. “Those who ‘like’ the posts of the gangsters or share them will be listed,” police said.