The organised crime landscape in Punjab and Haryana has undergone a fundamental transformation, with gangs such as the Lawrence Bishnoi network demonstrating that criminal syndicates can sustain cross-border operations even when their leaders remain behind bars in Indian prisons. The challenge, according to commentator and former police officer V.N. Rai, now extends far beyond street-level policing — it demands a coordinated assault on gang communication channels, recruitment pipelines, financial infrastructure, and overseas operations.

A Transnational Threat Taking Shape

Rai, writing in Saviours Magazine, argues that the Punjab-Haryana gang model has become deeply embedded in regional politics and popular culture, describing these networks as 'fluid, transnational, Instagram-glorified, and business-driven.' Their operations stretch from Indian prison cells to associates in North America and Central Asia, with recruitment and intimidation amplified through digital platforms.

The scale of the problem drew judicial attention when the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the Haryana government to place on record its policy framework and institutional measures to combat organised criminal gangs, seeking details on preventive policing, investigation, intelligence gathering, and inter-agency coordination.

The Bishnoi Network: Operating Behind Bars

Lawrence Bishnoi has been lodged in the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad since 2023 under orders restricting his transfer or physical custody by police forces from other states. His imprisonment, however, has not curtailed the wider network. A classified December 2025 report by the Canada Border Services Agency, titled The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada, became public during court proceedings there, linking the gang to high-profile killings, extortion threats, and shootings in Canada. It also alleged exploitation of immigration pathways to move operatives from India to North America.

Rai identifies this as one of the defining features of the current gang ecosystem. 'Gangsters based in Indian jails operate in tandem with associates in Canada/US/Central Asia,' he wrote, describing a network that uses social media for recruitment, extortion, contract killings, and drug-related money laundering. 'Their physical absence from the streets does not necessarily mean that their influence has disappeared,' he added.

The gang's public profile received a significant boost after controversial video-conference interviews with Bishnoi emerged while he was in Punjab and Rajasthan Police custody in 2022. An investigation subsequently found that police had allegedly facilitated the interviews. A DSP was sacked and six officers were suspended following the incident.

Why Conventional Policing Falls Short

Rai contends that specialised units, arrests, and prosecutions — while necessary — cannot alone dismantle an organisation that functions like a business. 'Organised crime is a business,' he writes. 'You don't shut a business by neutralising its delivery boys.'

He points to two structural vulnerabilities that enforcement must target. First, publicity and recruitment: gang leaders depend on a constant supply of young operatives, often drawn from villages and economically vulnerable communities. Rai argues that preventive policing must therefore extend into communities, with career counsellors, social influencers, religious leaders, and political activists helping counter the appeal of gang culture. 'After a crime, videos claiming responsibility often circulate rapidly on social media. Such material can magnify fear among potential targets while strengthening the gang's reputation among young recruits,' he noted.

Second, command and control: Rai proposed snapping communication channels used by imprisoned gang leaders and implementing frequent jail transfers. This, he argues, would require stronger technological coordination between prison authorities, intelligence agencies, and police forces across states.

Follow the Money: The Financial Dimension

Extortion, narcotics, and contract killings generate substantial illegal revenues that sustain gang networks and fund fresh recruitment. Rai called for relentless financial investigation, asset confiscation, and a dedicated financial task force to weaken the economic foundations of organised crime. 'Follow the money' is, in his assessment, among the most effective tools available to law enforcement.

He draws a historical parallel: Bihar's criminal networks of the 1990s were rooted in caste conflicts and political patronage; Uttar Pradesh saw land, mining, and contract mafias emerge in the 2000s; Mumbai's underworld built international connections through smuggling, real estate, film financing, and hawala networks. The Punjab-Haryana gangs represent a newer and more digitally agile phase of this evolution.

International Crackdowns and What Comes Next

Enforcement agencies have begun responding across borders. In July 2025, the US-led Operation Hard Ball resulted in 24 arrests across the US, Canada, and Europe, with 37 members of three Punjab-origin syndicates charged. The operation targeted networks linked to Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, and Ravinder Dhanda.

Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi's brother, was deported from the US to India in November 2025 and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The Haryana Police arrested Mamta Rani after her extradition from Russia in a case linked to a Bishnoi associate. In July, Spain arrested alleged Bishnoi associate Goldy Dhillon following inputs from the Punjab Police, the NIA, and Interpol. Haryana gangster Venkat Garg was also extradited from Georgia to face murder and extortion charges in India.

Rai stressed that arrests alone cannot provide a lasting solution. 'Speedy trials, witness protection, financial investigations, prison security, intelligence sharing and preventive policing must work together,' he said. The larger objective, he argued, should be to make gang membership less attractive to young people — and to break the perception that entering organised crime is a path from which there is 'no way back.' The battle, as he frames it, is no longer about catching individual shooters; it is about dismantling an ecosystem that recruits in Indian villages, issues instructions from prisons, and maintains influence through associates abroad.