North American Punjabi body worried over gang wars, weapons recovery in India's Punjab

The North American Punjabi Association on Wednesday (15) raised "serious concern" over increasing incidents of gang wars and the recovery of sophisticated weapons in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Satnam Singh Chahal, executive director of the US-based organisation, said the arrest of gangsters and the seizure of sophisticated weapons are causing "serious concern" among the Punjabi diaspora.

Expressing concern over "deteriorating" law and order and the "alarming rise" in organised crime, Chahal, who recently spent four months in Punjab, said the state is on the brink of "jungle raj".

"It is very unfortunate that only a few gangsters out of several arrested between 1996 and 2023 were convicted. The case of well-known singer Sidhu Moosewala is still unsolved after eight months.

"Several gangsters managed to escape from police custody between January 2015 and some have jumped bail," the North American Punjabi Association office-bearer said. Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district last May.

Organised crime is not only being institutionalised but also glamourised in Punjab, Chahal alleged.

(PTI)