Keeping in view the continuous threat posed by gangsters operating from foreign countries and behind the bars, the Haryana Special Task Force (STF) has drawn up a three-pronged strategy to dismantle organised crime networks. The strategy targets gangsters orchestrating crimes from abroad and inside prisons, their local associates and intermediaries, and the networks that allegedly lure vulnerable youths into criminal gangs.
When asked about the increasing number of criminal activities allegedly being operated by gangsters from jails and abroad, the inspector general of police STF Simardeep Singh said the task force was committed to dismantling organised crime networks operating in the state and was tracking not only gangsters based abroad but also criminals lodged in Haryana’s prisons and people who had come into contact with them.
“We are not only focusing on gangsters sitting abroad and operating their gangs in Haryana but are also tracking the records of criminals lodged in jails across the state. We are examining the people who have come into contact with them, particularly those arrested for petty offences and lodged in jail for a couple of months,” Singh told Hindustan Times.
The strategy seeks to target organised crime at multiple levels, including the gangsters allegedly directing operations, the local networks facilitating their activities and the recruitment channels through which young people are drawn into criminal gangs.
{{/usCountry}}The strategy seeks to target organised crime at multiple levels, including the gangsters allegedly directing operations, the local networks facilitating their activities and the recruitment channels through which young people are drawn into criminal gangs.
{{/usCountry}}The STF is examining the backgrounds and criminal records of people who may have been in jails for petty crimes and came into contact with established gangsters during their time in prison in the past several years. The focus on those arrested for relatively minor offences is aimed at identifying potential recruitment networks and preventing young people from being influenced by organised crime syndicates.
According to the information, the agency also taking help of the national agencies to track gangsters operating from foreign countries who allegedly continue to coordinate criminal activities in Haryana through associates on the ground. At the same time, prison-based networks are under scrutiny to establish how criminals lodged in jails may continue to influence or direct operations outside.
By identifying intermediaries and disrupting links between gangsters and potential recruits, the STF intends to weaken the local support structures that enable criminal gangs to sustain their activities and expand their reach.
STF’s enforcement record shows that it has arrested 1,972 accused since 2024, including 369 most-wanted or wanted criminals, 1,063 gangsters and 540 accused involved in heinous crimes, according to the figures provided by the task force. The year-wise arrests of gang members indicate sustained action against organised crime. The STF arrested 323 gangsters in 2024, followed by 470 in 2025, while 270 had been arrested so far in 2026.
The officials monitoring the gangsters settled in abroad claimed that they have tightened the grip over these criminals and in 2026 alone, 15 wanted criminals have been successfully deported and brought back to India with the help of technical surveillance, intelligence inputs, Interpol channels and coordination with other law enforcement agencies.
In August, Haryana STF proposed a reward of US $10,000 on each of four foreign-based gangsters—Himanshu Bhau, Rohit Godara, Randeep Malik, and Anil Pandit, who claimed the responsibility of attack on bollywood actor Tiger Shroff.