Chandigarh: Amidst the ongoing drive to break the gangster-terrorist nexus in the state, the Punjab police on Thursday launched a state-wide crackdown against various gangsters including Goldy Brar and raided over 1,159 suspected places and hideouts of their associates across the state.
According to reports, the raids were carried on the locations allegedly linked with notorious gangster Goldy Brar – the prime suspect in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala last year who was reportedly hiding in Canada – which came amid the souring ties between India and Canada.
Goldy Brar: A Fugitive on Canada's Most Wanted List
Satwinder Singh alias Goldy Brar is on Canada’s list of 25 most wanted criminals. He had also reportedly claimed responsibility for killing Moosewala in a social media post last year.
Notably, even though Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said in December last year that Brar had been detained and that he would soon be in Punjab’s custody, Brar had on a YouTube channel refuted it saying he was free and would never be caught alive. His whereabouts are unknown since.
Special DGP, Law and Order, Arpit Shukla said in a statement that all the commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police were directed to depute adequate number of police parties to conduct these raids and meticulously check the whereabouts of these associates which was aimed at disrupting the nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers based in India and abroad.
Massive Police Operation Involving 600 Teams Across 1,159 Locations
He said that around 600 police teams, involving over 2,500 police personnel, carried out this operation at as many as 1,159 places linked with associates of various gangsters.
The special DGP said that the police teams had also arrested one person and recovered 120 grams heroin and one .32 bore pistol along with five live cartridges during the operation.
Coordinated Efforts to Disrupt the Nexus of Criminal Activities
He said that, apart from this, several persons have also been rounded up for questioning during the operation for further verification and incriminating material had been seized from their possession. The material and data collected during the search operation are being examined further, he added.
Today’s searches were planned after the questioning of several persons arrested during recently busted modules backed by different gangsters, he added.
