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.
“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. 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. The year-wise arrests of gang members indicate sustained action against organised crime.
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 STF arrested 323 gangsters in 2024, followed by 470 in 2025, while 270 had been arrested so far in 2026.
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 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.
