Punjab Police Hits Day 265 of Gangsteran Te Vaar, 556 Raids Conducted
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Nearly nine months into a relentless blitz against organised crime, Punjab Police showed no signs of letting up on Tuesday, 13 October 2026 — conducting 556 raids across the state on Day 265 of the Gangsteran Te Vaar ('Strike Against Gangsters') campaign, recovering a weapon and adding fresh arrests to a cumulative tally that has now crossed 77,993. The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced the milestone on X, underlining the Bhagwant Mann government's signature law-and-order push.
556 raids, one more weapon off the streets
On Day 265, police teams fanned out to identified and mapped locations linked to associates of gangsters, executing 556 raids in a single day. The operation yielded arrests and the recovery of one firearm — a steady, grinding accumulation that authorities say is designed to choke the supply lines and support networks that keep gang operations alive. The CMO's post framed the campaign as 'decisive', signalling that the government intends to sustain the pace rather than declare victory.
What Gangsteran Te Vaar has built since 2022
Launched in 2022 by the Aam Aadmi Party government under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Gangsteran Te Vaar was conceived as a systematic, data-driven campaign to dismantle the organised crime networks that have long plagued Punjab — networks intertwined with extortion rackets, the drug trade, and targeted violence. The approach is deliberate: map the ecosystem of each gangster, then raid, arrest, and seize outward, from associates to logisticians to financiers. The 77,993 total arrests since launch reflect that breadth. Punjab has historically grappled with the nexus between drug trafficking and gang activity, and successive administrations have attempted police-led crackdowns; the current campaign distinguishes itself through its sheer duration and the daily public accounting of numbers.
Why the daily count matters politically
Publishing a day-by-day tally is itself a governance strategy. It creates accountability — any slowdown in raids or arrests becomes immediately visible — and it signals to both residents and criminal networks that the state is watching continuously, not in episodic bursts. For the Mann government, the campaign is also a proof point for AAP's law-and-order credentials ahead of any future electoral cycle. Punjab residents, long weary of gang-related extortion calls and violence, remain the most consequential audience for every update the CMO posts.
As long as the raids clock in and the numbers climb, the message from Chandigarh to every criminal associate across Punjab is unmistakable: there is no quiet stretch left to hide in.