In Punjab, law enforcement and media reports repeatedly highlight the role of individuals from other Indian states in certain categories of crime. One of the most visible areas is cyber fraud and online financial scams. Punjab Police’s cybercrime wing has uncovered several interstate gangs that operate across boundaries, luring victims with fake investment schemes, online shopping portals, or social media impersonations. Arrests in such cases often bring suspects from states like Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh into Punjab’s custody, where they are booked under IT and IPC sections. These cases show how fraudsters exploit digital anonymity while physically moving across state borders to avoid detection.
Another recurring area is drug trafficking and narcotics smuggling, where interstate and cross-border modules are active. Punjab, already on the frontline of drug inflows due to its international border, also faces organized networks that stretch into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and even as far as Maharashtra. Police seizures of heroin, opium, and synthetic drugs have often involved transporters and carriers traced back to other states. In 2024 alone, Punjab Police reported dismantling dozens of such modules and arresting smugglers who were moving consignments across state borders before feeding them into Punjab’s illegal market.
Beyond drugs, vehicle and property theft gangs also show interstate links. In Mohali, for instance, police busted a motorcycle-theft gang in which suspects originally hailed from Uttar Pradesh. They were accused of stealing vehicles in Punjab, altering their identity, and reselling them in other regions. Such gangs rely on mobility and cross-state movement to sell stolen property and reduce the risk of being caught, making them harder for local police to track.
Cases of illegal liquor smuggling and organized contraband trade similarly feature non-local accused. Truck drivers and carriers from Rajasthan have been caught transporting huge consignments of liquor into Punjab, avoiding state taxes and feeding the black market. In some instances, arrests reveal entire interstate supply chains, with financiers, transporters, and retailers spread across multiple states. Violent crimes, too, occasionally involve outsiders. A high-profile Ludhiana incident saw a bar owner shot dead by customers later traced to Rajasthan, underlining that even seemingly spontaneous violent crimes can involve non-residents.
What becomes clear from these examples is that interstate crime in Punjab is not a matter of isolated cases but part of wider networks that exploit geography and weak coordination between states. Non-locals are not responsible for all or even most crime in Punjab, but in specific sectors — drugs, smuggling, cyber fraud, and organized theft — their role is significant enough to be repeatedly noted in both FIRs and press reports.
However, it is also important to stress the data gap. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) provides extensive state-wise statistics on murders, NDPS cases, thefts, and cybercrime, but does not publish a breakdown showing the “origin state of the accused.” This means we cannot quantify exactly how many crimes in Punjab are committed by non-residents. What we have instead are scattered police press notes and media coverage that indicate patterns rather than precise numbers.
In short, the available evidence suggests that those coming into Punjab from other states are most visibly linked with smuggling rackets, drug trafficking modules, cyber fraud gangs, and vehicle theft networks. Without official state-of-origin statistics, the exact scale remains unclear, but the repeated arrests of non-locals in these categories underline the interstate dimension of Punjab’s crime landscape.