CHANDIGARH: The audacity of criminals was visible in January last year when gangster and sharpshooter Sukha Kahlon was killed by a rival gang on Amritsar-Delhi highway near Phagwara while he was being taken back to Nabha Jail after a court hearing. After shooting him down, gang members danced in front of the police jeep in which he was being escorted. Kahlon had 40 criminal cases registered against him. Punjab gangsters are also understood to have links with politicians and police.
On Wednesday, gangster Bobby Malhotra and his accomplices shot dead a rival and wounded two. The shootout took place near Police Station Division B, but not a single policeman came out. Malhotra had kidnapped gangster Karanbir Singh last month, and his corpse was found on Tuesday.
With such gang wars increasing in the state, Punjab Police will now have a Special Task Force (STF) to combat the underworld.
Apart from dealing with such hardened criminals, the STF will also take on drug smugglers and kidnappers. Punjab will be the seventh state to have an STF after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jharkhand. It will be headed by an Inspector General of Police, who will be assisted by a small team of officers. “This STF will have jurisdiction all over the state and will coordinate with district police forces and with police of other states,” Director General of Punjab Police Suresh Arora told The Sunday Standard. “It will be a nodal agency and will have powers to raid and arrest criminals by itself. It will also provide specific information to district police, and monitor and movements and activities of gangsters.”
The STF will also keep tabs on drug smugglers who jump bail and continue their “business”. It will apprehend them, besides solving kidnapping cases in tandem with district police as kidnappers flee to other places with their victims.
“Two more State Special Narcotics Cell (SSNC) will be set up in the state. Currently, there is just one SSNC at Amritsar. The new ones will be at Abohar and will have jurisdiction over Bathinda and Ferozepur police ranges,” Arora added. “The other one will be at Mohali and will have jurisdiction over Patiala, Ropar and Ludhiana ranges. The Amritsar SSNC will have jurisdiction of the border range. This has been done to tackle drug smuggling as we have a zero tolerance policy on it.”
Sources said there are more than a dozen gangsters in the state. These gangs are involved in murder, kidnapping, drug smuggling and other criminal activities. Some operate from inside jails, while others are on the run.
Police sources said eight jailed gangsters are operating from prison. Vicky Gounder, Jodha Kothaguru and Kala Dhanaula are lodged in Nabha Jail, while Gopi Dalewalia is in Gurdaspur Jail, Lawrence Bishnoi in Kapurthala Jail, Lakha Sadhana in Bathinda Jail and Kulbir Singh Naruana in Patiala Jail.
Gangster Jaipal’s accomplice, Tirath Sekhon, is lodged in Nabha Jail for killing Kahlon.
Gangsters on the run are Gurpreet Sekhon, Jaipal, Shera Khubhan, Prema Lahoria, Daljit Bhana, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Bhinda Shadipuria, against whom numerous cases of murder, kidnapping, robbery, dacoity, are registered against them.
TACKLING TERROR
■ With gang wars increasing in the state, Punjab Police will now have a Special Task Force (STF) to combat the underworld
■ Apart from dealing with such hardened criminals, the STF will also take on drug smugglers and kidnappers
■ Punjab will be the seventh state to have an STF