Breaking the gang economy

The narrative of organised gangs in Punjab and Haryana finds deep resonance in politics and popular culture of the region. Too visible and too well entrenched, uprooting these gangs presents an uphill challenge on administrative scales that require urgent policy monitoring. The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently asked the Haryana government to place on record its policy framework and institutional measures to tackle the menace of organised criminal gangs. The affidavit should indicate the preventive, investigative, intelligence and inter-agency coordination mechanisms and specific measures to curb the organised crime activities.A classified intelligence report of December 2025 by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), titled 'The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada', was recently made public during court proceedings in that country. The report confirms the involvement of the gang in Canada, in high-profile killings, extortion threats and shootings as their principal criminal activities. It revealed the gang manipulating Canada's immigration pathways to recruit operatives from India to North America. Lawrence Bishnoi has been lodged in the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad since 2023 under orders that prevent his transfer or physical custody by other state police forces. His gang had claimed responsibility after the June 2023 sensational murder of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, parallel to a prolonged diplomatic flare-up between India and Canada.Controversial interviews with Lawrence Bishnoi via video-conferencing while he was in Punjab and Rajasthan police custody emerged in late 2022. An investigation revealed that police personnel facilitated these interviews by providing him access to communication devices, resulting in the dismissal of a DSP and the suspension of six other officers. In the aftermath, not just dreaded Bishnoi but the whole gamut of Punjab-Haryana brand of gang operations gained cult visibility across continents.Visibility, a vital tool of 'high return' weaponised by the gangsters, has not worked in the same rewarding ways for the law enforcement. A target is hit and immediately, chilling videos on behalf of a notorious gang, at times competing gangs, surface on social media to claim responsibility. It witnesses the desired effect: resolves broken, rewards collected, gang's visibility amplified. A huge hue and cry follows, particularly in political spaces alleging broken law and order on one another. All this adds to the brand value of the gang and helps soften the resistance of prospective targets.Police move in, debates or confirms the involvement of a certain gang, video grabs of the individuals committing crime are released and more stories about the alluding gangsters get circulated via media. The frontmen identified in committing the crime, mostly low-paid first-timers, are captured after half or full 'encounters'. Often a stage-managed show, half encounter is the bullet in the leg, fracturing, whereas full encounter is the bullet in the upper body, killing. Gang's visibility is even more amplified, the scenario looks more menacing to potential targets, and, empirically speaking, attracts even more first-timers to this desperate world signalling easy money.Punjab and Haryana face a similar pattern since 2020. Gangsters based in Indian jails operate in tandem with associates in Canada/US/Central Asia, using social media for recruitment, extortion, contract killings and drug-narcotics money-laundering. Being lodged in a native jail works to their advantage; their presence in India being essential for overseeing the domestic leg of the international deals. They run the gangs from the jail's safe sanctuary via phones and emissaries without bothering too much for alibi, surveillance or encounters outside.Both the Punjab Police and Haryana Police have raised committed special units, well supported by intelligence and coordination networks to tackle the booming phenomena. Their records of arrest, surveillance and prosecution are impressive. It is to be conceded that the old raid-and-arrest model was not enough to isolate the elaborate gang networks. Encounters and bulldozers create headlines but not deterrence. Trust deficit eats into public cooperation if two weeks later the gang is back to business. The bottom line: be tough on crime, be ruthless while upholding due process.Organised crime is a business. You don't shut a business by neutralising its delivery boys. Or, by raiding its prospective agents. The task is multi-layered. You need to completely shut their two departments: Publicity (visibility) and HR (recruitment from villages). This will be realised through a robust community interface involving career coaches, social influencers, religious leaders and political activists. Next, challenge the gang leadership on two counts: Command (kill all communication lines) and Stability (shift frequently from jail to jail). This will require a seamless tech interface. Simultaneously, follow the money trail relentlessly, confiscate the cash and other assets, set up a dedicated financial task force as it is easier said than done.The kidnapping-extortion 'jungle raj' of Bihar of the 1990s was politically embedded -- rooted in caste armies and ideological land wars. Politicians took cuts and used local gangs as vote muscle in lieu of their patronage. The mining, land, contract mafia of the UP of the 2000s, again local-political in character, went one step ahead; gangsters became MLAs and ran parallel administrations. The underworld of Mumbai of the 1980s-90s flourished on smuggling, Bollywood and real estate. Dawood, Chhota Rajan, etc built a corporate-style syndicate with hawala and international reach.The present-day Punjab-Haryana gangs feast on drugs and diaspora, are fluid, transnational, Instagram-glorified and business-driven. Less ideology, more pay-or-die virality. The state is stronger now, but gangs operate from Canada/jail, making them harder to decapitate.A policy framework to break defiant gangs must prioritise speedy trial and witness protection in tandem with the expanded social reach of preventive policing. Another crucial aspect would be: how far do the businesses of politics and popular culture align with the mission? In Prakash Jha's movie 'Apharan' (2005) on Bihar's jungle raj, the young gangster who was tired of his gory existence responded in one sentence to the suggestion from his father to quit for a quiet life: in this profession, there's no way back. There should be a game-changing rehabilitation programme to prove him wrong.Vikash Narain Rai is former Director, National Police Academy.

Breaking the gang economy

There should be a game-changing rehab programme.

Vikash Narain Rai

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