The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced on Friday, 29 May 2026 that Punjab Police conducted 364 raids across the state on the 128th day of the ongoing anti-gangster campaign Gangsteran Te Vaar (War on Gangsters), targeting locations linked to associates of organised criminal networks. According to the official post, police teams arrested individuals during the raids and recovered one weapon. The cumulative arrest count since the campaign's launch has reached 32,397, reflecting the sustained pace of the operation across Punjab.

Context

Gangsteran Te Vaar is a dedicated Punjab Police operation aimed at dismantling organised crime networks by systematically targeting the associates, logistics, and hideouts of known gangsters. The campaign relies on intelligence mapping of locations linked to criminal networks, enabling coordinated, multi-team raids across districts on a continuous basis. The 29 May update confirms that the operation has maintained its tempo well past its first hundred days. The official statement noted that raids were conducted at 'identified and mapped locations linked to associates of gangsters,' indicating a data-driven approach to enforcement rather than reactive policing.

Policy Backdrop

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, which came to power in March 2022, made tackling organised crime and the drug mafia a central plank of its governance agenda. Punjab has long faced challenges from gang violence intertwined with cross-border narcotics trafficking routes, with criminal networks often maintaining links to diaspora communities abroad. Previous state governments also launched targeted operations against gangsters and drug syndicates, but the current administration has framed Gangsteran Te Vaar as a more sustained, campaign-style intervention with daily operational reporting. The consistent public communication from the Chief Minister's Office is itself part of the strategy — signalling enforcement continuity to both the public and criminal networks.

Stakeholders and Impact

For ordinary Punjab residents, particularly in districts historically affected by gang activity, the campaign represents a visible shift in policing intensity. The accumulation of 32,397 arrests over the course of the campaign suggests a broad net that includes not just principal offenders but also peripheral associates, arms suppliers, and logistical supporters of criminal networks. Punjab Police personnel are the primary operational stakeholders, with teams conducting raids on a daily basis. Civil liberties observers and legal aid bodies have a stake in ensuring due process is maintained at the scale of arrests the campaign has generated. The recovery of weapons — even individual firearms — is significant given the role of illegal arms in enabling gang violence.

What's Next

The campaign shows no sign of winding down, with day-by-day updates continuing to be issued from the Chief Minister's Office. Analysts and residents will watch for the release of consolidated monthly crime statistics to assess whether the arrests are translating into measurable reductions in gang-related incidents. There is also the question of whether the operation will expand coordination with central agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), particularly for cases involving cross-border dimensions. The campaign's trajectory into its fifth month positions it as one of the more prolonged state-level anti-gangster drives in recent Punjab history.