Punjab: The Rise of Gangs
In just the first week of 2026, Punjab recorded four consecutive targeted killings, reflecting both continuity and escalation in the state’s entrenched patterns of complex violence, and exposing serious deficiencies in the law-and-order framework. The assailants’ evident impunity underscores the rising audacity of transnational organized crime and gangster networks interlinked with pro-Khalistan extremist elements, narcotics trafficking, and local political rivalries.
On January 5, 2026, Gagandeep Singh, a former kabaddi player working as a bouncer and a close relative of Jagraon Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Saravjit Kaur, was shot dead by armed assailants in an agricultural field near the grain market on the outskirts of Manuke village in Jagraon, Ludhiana district. Preliminary investigations suggest the killing followed a scuffle between rival groups; before fleeing, the assailants allegedly gathered outside the victim’s residence and announced that he had been killed.
On January 4, 2026, Jarmal Singh, an AAP sarpanch (village panchayat head), was shot dead by two unmasked armed assailants during a crowded wedding ceremony at a resort near Verka on the Amritsar-Attari Road in Amritsar district. Reports indicate that Singh, a commission agent and construction contractor, had been receiving extortion threats for over a year from foreign-based gangster Prabh Dassuwal.
On January 3, 2026, Umarsir Singh, a Congress party worker, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Bhinder Kalan village of Moga district. The victim’s family alleged that the killing was linked to a long-standing political rivalry arising from local body elections.
Earlier, on January 2, 2026, Hempreet Kaur, an NRI who had returned from abroad about a month earlier, was shot dead in a targeted attack by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Kapurthala district.
In a related development, on January 6, 2026, Harnoor Singh, a gangster alleged to have planned the killing of AAP sarpanch Jarmal Singh, was killed in a police encounter near Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran district.
Significantly, 2025 already recorded the highest number of targeted killings in Punjab since the re-emergence of this pattern in 2016, after a hiatus of eight years (2008-2015), with most incidents linked to transnational crime networks involving overseas-based gangster syndicates and radical Khalistani elements. Data from the Khalistan Extremism Monitor (KEM) indicate the following gangster- or terror-linked fatalities in Punjab: three in 2016 (all civilians, targeted killings); six in 2017 (all civilians, targeted killings); three in 2018 (three civilians killed in a terrorist attack); two in 2019 (two terrorists killed in a blast); two in 2020 (two civilians, targeted killings); one in 2021 (one terrorist killed in a blast); three in 2022 (three civilians, targeted killings); six in 2023 (three civilians and three gangsters, all targeted killings); nine in 2024 (seven civilians and two gangsters-eight targeted killings and one inter-gang war); and a sharp rise to 31 in 2025 (19 civilians, three terrorists, and nine gangsters, including 21 targeted killings).
Most of these targeted killings reveal a command-and-control structure linking local and mid-level gang operatives in north India to overseas-based gang leaders operating from the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, as well as to gangsters and terrorists backed by Pakistan’s ISI. During 2016-17, such violence primarily targeted non-Sikh religious leaders and anti-Khalistani figures to foment communal tension and revive separatist sentiment. In more recent years – particularly after the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022 – the target profile has expanded to include NRIs, traders and businessmen, sportspersons such as kabaddi players, and Punjabi singers, reflecting the growing centrality of large-scale extortion rackets within these criminal-terrorist networks.
On December 31, 2025, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav accused Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir and the ISI of orchestrating fresh conspiracies to destabilize the state by supplying weapons to gangsters and terrorists. He stated that 40 foreign-based gangsters were actively attempting to incite violence in Punjab, while more than 400 gangs or modules were currently operating, with exact numbers fluctuating. While asserting that the overall law-and-order situation in 2025 was under control and comparatively better than in most states, the DGP disclosed that, during the year, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and field units dismantled 416 gangster modules, arrested 992 connected criminals, seized 620 weapons and 252 vehicles, and, in coordination with central agencies, secured the deportation of gangsters such as Anmol Bishnoi, Parminder Singh aka Pindi, Sukhdev Kumar aka Manish Bedi, and Sajan Masih aka Goru.
The disturbing convergence of gangsterism and terrorism – fuelling an expanding gun culture and the glorification of violence – became more evident after the sensational killing of Sidhu Moosewala in 2022. In several cases, this trend has been exploited by Pakistan-based terrorist elements as well as Khalistani extremists in the Sikh diaspora, operating through gang networks, which recruit on-ground foot soldiers – often unemployed youth with no prior criminal records – offering cash incentives or promises of a better life abroad to execute targeted killings and other violent acts, including grenade attacks. Notably, since September 2024, Punjab has witnessed 24 grenade attacks, primarily targeting security establishments across various parts of the state. While monetary incentives and narcotics primarily motivate these young recruits, ideology has also been selectively deployed on occasion.
As the opposition accused the AAP-led government of law-and-order failures, the government attributed the roots of the current “gangsterism” crisis to misrule and political patronage under previous governments over the past decade and a half. The political embeddedness of criminal networks – intersecting with local power struggles and entrenched criminal-political nexuses – was evident even in the latest local body elections. During these polls, mainstream political parties allegedly extended support to certain gangsters; the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) fielded a candidate in Tarn Taran who is the father-in-law of fugitive gangster Amritpal Singh aka Bath. Such developments enable criminal actors to operate in grey zones and exploit administrative hesitancy.
The prevailing hybrid threat – arising from the convergence of transnational organized crime, narcotics networks, and extremist actors – has weakened public security in Punjab. Despite sustained police operations, recurrent daylight targeted killings point to enduring gaps in intelligence, preventive policing, and deterrence. Far more effective action, both domestic and international, will be necessary to prevent a wider security breakdown; failure risks deeper destabilization through the convergence of organized crime and Khalistani separatism.