The recent surge in killings, gang rivalries, extortion and drug-related violence ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections highlights a dangerous convergence of transnational organised crime, narcotics networks and cross-border subversion in the Indian border state of Punjab. As political parties seek to capitalise on the crisis, the state faces the growing challenge of containing a criminal ecosystem adept at exploiting its social, economic and political vulnerabilities.
During October 2026, at least 13 people were killed in a series of violent incidents involving a serving police officer, an anti-drug activist, a social-media influencer, former village heads, local political associates and ordinary civilians. The killings included:
October 3, 2026: Social media influencer and make-up artist Madhusudan aka Mad Sandhu, was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants on Loharka Road in Amritsar district. The following day, foreign-based gangsters Goldy Dhillon and Lucky Johal claimed responsibility for the killing on social media. Police subsequently arrested alleged associates of Dhillon in Gujarat in connection with the case.
October 3, 2026: The former sarpanch (village head) of Manewal village in Ludhiana district, Navtej Singh aka Neetu, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants while returning home from his fields. The assailants intercepted his car and opened fire. Preliminary investigations point to a longstanding land dispute between the victim and his cousin, with police suspecting that contract killers/gangsters may have been engaged to carry out the killing.
October 6, 2026: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sarpanch of Toot village in the Patti tehsil (Revenue Unit) of Tarn Taran district, Ashwani Kumar, was shot dead in broad daylight by three unidentified assailants. His driver, Chamkaur Singh, sustained serious injuries. The attackers intercepted their vehicle as Kumar was travelling to the village grain market with his driver, son and an associate, and opened fire, fleeing the scene immediately thereafter.
October 11, 2026: Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Iqbal Singh, posted with the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) staff in Ferozepur, was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Lauhka Road in Tarn Taran district. He was returning home after duty when armed assailants intercepted him and opened fire, killing him on the spot. Hours later, a purported social media post attributed to foreign-based gangsters Prabh Dasuwal, Doni Bal, Mohabbat Randhawa, Afreedi Toot and Shaganpreet claimed responsibility, alleging that Singh had assisted gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh aka Landa Harike.
October 13, 2026: Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota was shot dead, while four of his associates were injured, in a daylight shooting at a chemist shop in Mansa district. The shop owner, Ashwani Kumar, allegedly opened fire during a confrontation over the purported sale of drugs to an elderly man, which was being livestreamed. Jhota, a former boxer facing several criminal cases, had a history of clashes with Ashwani. Footage of the latest confrontation shows Jhota and his associates questioning Ashwani before an argument lasting nearly four minutes culminated in the alleged shooting.
October 16, 2026: Anti-drug activist Bikramjit Singh was killed, while his associates, Nishan Singh and Gurmukh Singh, sustained injuries in a sharp-edged weapon attack at Batala in Gurdaspur district. The three were allegedly ambushed by a group of around 10 youths while protesting against local drug sales.
October 16, 2026: A youth, Anmol, was hacked to death in broad daylight in the Majowal area of Nangal town, Ropar district. He was reportedly chased by assailants and attacked with sharp-edged weapons. Police subsequently arrested two suspects, Kushal Kumar aka Gosha, and Anil Kumar aka Nannu, in connection with the murder.
October 21, 2026: Daily wager Kuldeep Singh was shot dead by two unidentified masked assailants in Naushehra Pannuan town, Tarn Taran district. Kuldeep was returning home with his brother, Baj Singh, when he stopped at a shop for a haircut. One assailant entered the shop and asked who the father of Manpreet Singh Batua was. After Kuldeep identified himself, the attacker opened fire. Both assailants fled on a motorcycle. The killing occurred two days after Sarhali police arrested Kuldeep’s son, Manpreet Singh, for allegedly conducting reconnaissance in connection with a murder case. Investigators reportedly found that foreign-based gangsters had used Manpreet to conduct reconnaissance before the October 11 killing of ASI Iqbal Singh.
October 24, 2026: Shakti Singh aka Bhura, was killed after being attacked by several assailants at a house near Reru Sahib Gurdwara at Daba in Ludhiana district. The attackers allegedly severed one of his hands, left it at a nearby grocery shop and instructed the shopkeeper to deliver it to the victim’s house.
October 25, 2026: Two cousins, Gagan Jindal and Sahil Jindal, were killed and two others, Raghav and Somnath Jindal, were seriously injured when unidentified assailants opened fire in the Angadpura area of Moga district. Police arrested five suspects in connection with the attack and suspect longstanding personal enmity as the motive. The family had earlier lost another cousin, Vikas Jindal, who died under suspicious circumstances in November 2023. Police also reported that Sahil Jindal had around 10 criminal cases registered against him.
October 26, 2026: Tirath Singh, brother of AAP leader Karaj Singh, was allegedly shot dead, while his friend, Ranjit Singh, was injured in an attack near a gurdwara at Jhite Kalan village in Amritsar district. According to the police, the two were returning after paying obeisance at the gurdwara when assailants fired seven to eight rounds before fleeing. Police suspect longstanding personal enmity, noting that two rival groups had reportedly clashed earlier before villagers intervened to mediate in the dispute. Karaj Singh is a Block Samiti member, while his mother is an AAP-affiliated sarpanch.
October 28, 2026: Gursewak Singh was killed and two others, Harkirat Singh and Sajanpreet Singh, seriously injured, after transporter Manjit Singh Katta allegedly opened fire at a car on Asal Road at Khemkaran in Tarn Taran district. According to sources, Katta was returning home with his wife after visiting a shrine at Ghariala when another vehicle allegedly began following them. Near Mehndipur crossing, close to a railway crossing, he reportedly opened fire, injuring all three occupants. Gursewak later succumbed to his injuries. While Katta claimed that the occupants were involved in extortion, the victims’ family alleged that he had opened fire without provocation. Police confirmed that a case had been registered against Katta and his brother, Sandeep Singh, adding that Katta had reportedly received extortion threats from gangsters.
Not all these killings have established direct links to gangsters or narcotics networks; some arose from personal rivalries or economic disputes involving criminal gangs. Nevertheless, their cumulative impact, alongside murders directly linked to drug trafficking, extortion and organised criminal networks, underscores a deteriorating security environment. Collectively, these incidents reflect a disturbing concentration of lethal violence, although they cannot be conflated into a single organised gangster operation. Their wider significance lies in the apparent normalisation of armed violence, the ease with which assailants identify and target victims, and the growing intersection of conventional criminality with organised networks.
The recent spate of ‘targeted killings’ linked to the overlapping terror-gangster nexus reflects the continuation of trends observed in 2025. With two months remaining in 2026, Punjab has already recorded its highest annual fatality count since the resurgence of targeted killings in 2016. According to data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), the state recorded 54 fatalities in 2026 to date, comprising 38 civilians, five Security Force personnel, four terrorists and seven gangsters. Of these, 38 resulted from targeted killings.
This represents a substantial increase over the 31 fatalities recorded through 2025 (19 civilians, three terrorists and nine gangsters), including 21 targeted killings. The corresponding figures for earlier years were: nine fatalities in 2024 (seven civilians and two gangsters, including eight targeted killings and one inter-gang killing); six in 2023 (three civilians and three gangsters, all targeted killings); three in 2022 (all civilians, targeted killings); one in 2021 (a terrorist killed in a blast); two in 2020 (both civilians, targeted killings); two in 2019 (both terrorists killed in a blast); three in 2018 (all civilians killed in a terrorist attack); six in 2017 (all civilians, targeted killings); and three in 2016 (all civilians, targeted killings).
The most consequential dimension of Punjab’s gangster problem is its evolution from locally rooted criminality into a transnational enterprise. Gangsters operating from Canada, the United States (US), Europe, the Gulf, as well as a number of other countries in Europe and Southeast Asia, increasingly exploit social media, encrypted communications and local associates to orchestrate extortion, targeted shootings, recruitment and weapons distribution. Transnational organised criminal groups, including the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, designated a terrorist entity by Canada in September 2025, and the Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN), designated a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by India’s Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on September 16, 2026, have demonstrated the capacity to mobilise local shooters, intimidate businesses and extend criminal operations across national boundaries. Other networks associated with foreign-based operatives further reinforce this transnational dimension.
Punjab’s Majha region, particularly the Amritsar-Tarn Taran belt, remains a significant operational theatre within this ecosystem. The convergence of gangsterism and terrorism, however, can be understood in terms of operational overlap rather than ascribing terrorist affiliations to all gangsters. Criminal syndicates provide established networks of manpower, weapons, logistics and deniable violence that can be exploited by hostile handlers for broader strategic and destabilisation objectives.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has long sought to exploit Sikh alienation through Khalistani propaganda and militant networks to destabilise Punjab. Recognising the limited traction of direct Khalistani mobilisation within the state, the ISI appears to be adapting its approach by exploiting the drug-arms-gangster nexus, which exacerbates social vulnerabilities, fuels violence and provides opportunities to connect local grievances with a broader separatist narrative. The overlap between criminal and hostile networks also creates avenues for external actors to recruit individuals with existing criminal connections or those susceptible to financial inducement.
Punjab’s arms pipeline also increasingly appears to supply criminal networks operating beyond the state. The investigation into the October 18, 2026, shooting at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car in Mumbai extended to Amritsar, where the pistol and 20 rounds were reportedly sourced from a local intermediary suspected of procuring them from Pakistan. The Delhi Police disclosed that the weapon was collected from Amritsar at the direction of US-based gangster Anil Pandit, allegedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Two women reportedly transported the weapon to Mumbai through a covert dead-drop arrangement. The case illustrates the Punjab-based supply dimension of the wider Bishnoi criminal network and the geographical reach of its weapons-procurement channels.
In a significant development, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested three Punjab residents in Lucknow on October 30, 2026, and detained a juvenile in connection with an alleged plot to kill police or Army personnel, record the attack and transmit the footage to a Pakistani handler. A pistol and 20 cartridges were recovered from the group. Investigators said the accused were acting on the instructions of a Pakistan-based handler identified as Rana Bhai, who was allegedly associated with the Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN). They had reportedly been promised INR 300,000 for carrying out the assignment and were instructed to escape to Nepal afterwards. The handler recruited and communicated with them through Instagram and WhatsApp. One of the accused had a previous case registered against him under the Arms Act in Punjab. The case illustrates a method increasingly associated with foreign-directed operations: recruiting locally based, often inexperienced or juvenile operatives through social media, offering relatively small payments and using them to execute attacks that can be recorded and circulated for propaganda purposes.
The deteriorating security environment has emerged as a significant political battleground ahead of the early-2027 Punjab Assembly election. The October 13 killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota became a defining security and political flashpoint, triggering sustained protests, road blockades and a statewide bandh (shut down) supported by various political parties and religious organisations. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) subsequently approved the installation of Jhota’s portrait at the Central Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple complex, while Acting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj described him as a martyr. This recognition took the issue beyond conventional party politics and into the religious and community sphere, demonstrating how a criminal incident can acquire a wider moral and Panthic (Sikh religious identity) dimension.
The prevailing environment also creates opportunities for hardline pro-Khalistan organisations and separatist elements, both within Punjab and abroad, to appropriate genuine public grievances. The killing of an anti-drug activist is projected as evidence of state failure, while protests over police action are incorporated into broader narratives of institutional repression. Such narratives are subsequently amplified through diaspora platforms and separatist networks, potentially transforming local grievances into wider political and ideological mobilisation, papering over the distinction between legitimate public anger and attempts to exploit it for separatist purposes.
The increasingly frequent targeting of police personnel, village leaders, anti-drug and anti-terror activists, prominent public figures and ordinary citizens in Punjab, alongside the persistent cross-border flow of arms and narcotics, raises serious questions about the state’s capacity to maintain law and order. The approaching electoral cycle could further intensify these dynamics, as political competition over security and governance coincides with attempts by Panthic and separatist elements to channel public discontent into wider mobilisation.
The violence recorded in Punjab in October 2026 is a warning, not merely an isolated electoral-season phenomenon. The convergence of narcotics trafficking, transnational gangster networks, illicit arms supplies and recruitment by external handlers has created a security challenge that extends well beyond conventional law enforcement. The decisive test for the state is whether it can dismantle the underlying criminal infrastructure, protect those confronting it and prevent external actors from exploiting Punjab’s social distress to foment organised violence. Failure to do so could leave the state increasingly vulnerable to a criminal ecosystem in which local grievances, transnational gangsterism and hostile cross-border interests reinforce one another.
