From the brazen daylight killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala to the gangster execution of sarpanches at wedding receptions, Punjab under the Aam Aadmi Party government has lurched through an unrelenting cycle of targeted murders, extortion rackets, grenade attacks, and drug-fuelled organised crime — even as the ruling party claims it is winning the war on crime.
When the Aam Aadmi Party swept Punjab’s 2022 assembly elections on a promise of restoring law and order, residents hoped the era of gangster patronage was finished. Four years on, the picture is starkly contested: the government points to thousands of arrests and smashed gangs, while the opposition — and an ever-growing number of crime victims describe a state where fear has become a daily reality.
The first months of the AAP government were immediately overshadowed by audacious violence. On May 29, 2022, Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in broad daylight in Mansa district. The murder, claimed by the Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar gangs operating from overseas, announced a new era of remote-controlled assassinations — and became a defining emblem of the state’s law-and-order crisis.
Cross-border terror and gangsterism merged in dramatic fashion later that year. In December 2022, a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) was fired at Sarhali Police Station in Tarn Taran the first such attack on a law-enforcement facility in India in decades. The NIA linked the strike to Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa and Pakistan’s ISI, highlighting how overseas criminal networks had begun deploying terror-grade weapons against the state.
“Between November 2025 and January 2026 alone, six targeted killings were recorded largely linked to failures to comply with extortion demands, intensifying fear among the business community
The AAP government responded by forming the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in April 2022. By March 2026, the AGTF had dissolved over 1,100 gangs, arrested 2,858 criminals, and neutralised 35 in police encounters. But critics, including Punjab and Haryana High Court judges, questioned whether the operations were more about publicity than systemic dismantling of criminal networks.
While the government focused on encounter numbers, extortion had metastasised. Businessmen, NRIs, kabaddi players, and Punjabi singers found themselves targets. When cash was paid, it rarely brought freedom the same networks returned for more. By 2025, gangsters had turned their attention to a new, softer target: village sarpanches. In early 2026, four sarpanches were killed in the space of weeks, including Jarmal Singh, an AAP-affiliated leader shot dead at a Verka resort on January 4 while attending a wedding.
The drug crisis formed an ugly backdrop throughout. The government’s anti-narcotic campaign, “Yudh Nashean Virudh,” resulted in over 95,000 arrests and seizures of nearly 5,625 kg of heroin. Yet opposition leaders argued the figures underlined how deep the crisis had grown, not how effectively it was being solved. Punjab’s 560-km border with Pakistan continued to funnel weapons and narcotics via drones, with 806 drones recovered between 2022 and early 2026.
Corruption within the government’s own ranks added to the scandal. In May 2025, AAP MLA Raman Arora was arrested on charges of orchestrating a bogus-municipal-notices extortion racket. Around the same time, the Vigilance Chief, Special DGP SPS Parmar, was suspended in a driving licence scam and a Fazilka SSP was removed after his cybercrime unit was found extorting a minor’s family. Most recently, a Punjab State Warehousing Corporation official, Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, died after allegedly consuming poison, leaving behind a video accusing former Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar of coercion an allegation denied by the minister’s camp but demanding a full investigation.
Since September 2024, Punjab has witnessed no fewer than 24 grenade attacks on security establishments, a chilling escalation that intelligence officials attribute to ISI-backed Khalistan networks using gang foot-soldiers often unemployed youth often unemployed youth promised money or passage abroad. On December 31, 2025, DGP Gaurav Yadav publicly accused Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir and the ISI of orchestrating fresh conspiracies against Punjab.
Timeline of Major Incidents (2022–2026)
May 2022 — Sidhu Moosewala shot dead in Mansa. Overseas gangster networks claim responsibility.
Oct 2022 — Cloth merchant killed in Tarn Taran for refusing ₹20 lakh extortion demand.
Nov 2022 — Right-wing leader Sudhir Suri shot dead in busy Amritsar market; police protectees targeted.
Dec 2022 — RPG attack on Sarhali Police Station; NIA links to ISI-backed gangsters.
2023 — Extortion rackets expand to NRIs, kabaddi players, and singers; gang turf wars intensify.
2024 — 24 grenade attacks on security establishments recorded from September onward.
May 2025 — AAP MLA Raman Arora arrested for extortion racket; Vigilance Chief suspended in licence scam.
Jan 2026 — Three targeted killings in 72 hours: NRI shot in Kapurthala; Congress worker murdered in Moga; AAP sarpanch executed at Verka wedding resort by Landa Harike gang.Feb 2026 — Sarpanch Harbinder Sandhu shot dead at Tarn Taran wedding with AK-series rifle.
Mar 2026 — Official Gagandeep Randhawa dies after alleged harassment by minister; CBI probe demanded.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann insists his government has brought “vast improvement” to law and order, citing the AGTF’s record, anti-drone systems, and record police recruitment of 12,197 officers over four years. He has repeatedly pointed to the previous SAD-BJP and Congress regimes as the architects of gangster culture. Opposition leaders Congress, BJP, and SAD counter that four years of AAP rule have left Punjab in a state of fear, with organised crime now penetrating even the deepest rural areas.
What is not in dispute is this: Punjab remains a battlefield. The gangs have adapted, gone international, and found new targets. Whether the AAP government can break the cycle before Punjab heads to fresh elections remains the defining question of its legacy.
This article presents a factual compilation of reported incidents, government data, and opposition allegations based on published reporting (2022–2026). All allegations against named individuals are contested and have not been tested in a court of law. The Punjab Chronicle presents both government and opposition accounts in the public interest. Readers are encouraged to draw their own conclusions.
Feb 2026 — Sarpanch Harbinder S
The article covers the full arc of Punjab’s crime landscape under the AAP government from March 2022 to early 2026, drawing on verified reporting. Here’s a brief summary of the main threads covered:
Gangster violence audacious gangsterism, cross-border terror attacks, and high-profile murders dominated Punjab in 2022 ThePrint, beginning with Sidhu Moosewala’s killing and the RPG attack on Sarhali Police Station.
Extortion expansion Punjab’s notorious gangs, long known for targeting NRIs, kabaddi players, and musicians, have since turned their attention to rural leaders and ordinary residents ThePrint, with sarpanches now carrying guns for self-protection.
Remote-control murders overseas criminal networks have been hiring local gangsters to carry out political murders and run extortion rackets, with the crime syndicate becoming so powerful that Pakistan’s ISI decided to rope them in to further the Khalistan agenda Indian Defence Research Wing.
Internal corruption AAP MLA Raman Arora was arrested in May 2025 for orchestrating a racket involving bogus municipal notices and extortion The Tribune, while police officers from constable to Special DGP rank faced suspension.
Government’s position over 2,858 gangsters arrested, 35 neutralised, and 1,105 gangs busted since the AGTF was formed in April 2022 India TV News, though the High Court has criticised enforcement operations for prioritising publicity over effectiveness.