The Chief Minister's Office of Punjab announced on Saturday, 25 July 2026 that Punjab Police conducted 687 raids across the state as the anti-gangster drive 'Gangsteran Te Vaar' entered its 185th day, with cumulative arrests since the campaign's launch crossing 52,542.

Context

On Day 185 of the operation, police teams arrested individuals found in possession of seven weapons, adding to the campaign's running tally. Separately, six Proclaimed Offenders (POs) were also arrested during the day's operations, underscoring the sweep's dual focus on active gangster networks and fugitives already named by courts.

The raids were carried out at locations described by the CMO as 'identified and mapped' — indicating the use of intelligence-led targeting rather than random sweeps. Across 687 locations linked to associates of gangsters, police teams fanned out simultaneously, a scale that reflects the operational breadth the campaign has sustained over six months.

Policy Backdrop

The Gangsteran Te Vaar campaign was launched by the Aam Aadmi Party government of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann following the party's landslide victory in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections. The drive was conceived as a sustained, data-driven response to organised crime — a departure from periodic, episodic crackdowns that had characterised earlier administrations.

Punjab has historically struggled with inter-gang violence tied to cross-border drug syndicates and, at times, to local political patronage networks. The Mann government's approach centres on mapping criminal ecosystems — identifying not just active gangsters but their extended networks of associates, logistics supporters, and financiers — before conducting coordinated raids.

The campaign has also run in parallel with broader efforts on drug interdiction, with Punjab Police coordinating periodically with central agencies on cross-state criminal networks that operate beyond the state's jurisdiction.

Stakeholders and Impact

For ordinary residents of Punjab, the most visible impact of the campaign is the sustained pressure on gang-linked activity in both urban centres and rural belts where extortion and intimidation have historically been acute. The arrest of Proclaimed Offenders is particularly significant for victims and witnesses in pending criminal cases, as POs are individuals who have evaded court appearances and whose continued absence can stall judicial proceedings.

The weapons recovered on Day 185 — seven firearms — add to a cumulative haul that the state government has cited as evidence of the campaign's disruption of arms supply chains feeding gang violence. Organised crime networks, meanwhile, face continued attrition as the mapping-and-raid model targets their associate layers rather than only top-tier operatives.

What's Next

With the campaign now past the 185-day mark and total arrests at 52,542, attention will turn to whether the government moves toward legislative or asset-recovery measures to complement the policing effort. Analysts tracking the campaign have noted that sustained arrest numbers need to be matched by prosecution outcomes to translate operational gains into durable reductions in gang activity.

The CMO Punjab has been issuing daily updates on the campaign, a communications pattern that signals the government's intent to keep the drive in public view as a governance deliverable ahead of future electoral cycles.