Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has given the go-ahead for setting up an Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), as part of the Intelligence Wing, to break the nexus flourishing between militants and gangsters in the state’s prisons.

The state government is also mulling an effective law, such as the Punjab Control of Organised Criminals Act (PCOCA), to deal effectively with the terror spread by organised criminal gangs, most of which have been operating in the state for the past five to seven years with strong political patronage.

This was disclosed here on Monday by a spokesperson in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), who said the ATS would have the mandate to act both against terrorist or militant outfits and criminal gangs.

In addition, the Union Home Minister, on a request from the CM has already agreed,tentatively, to provide two Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) companies to ensure security at the high-security/sensitive jails where hardcore terrorists and gangsters are lodged. These additional companies will remain at the prisons for at least six months, said the spokesperson.

At his meeting last week with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Amarinder had raised concern about the growing nexus between militants and gangsters, pointing out that jail staff had been receiving constant threats from such elements. 

Revealing details of the police crackdown on terrorists and gangsters, launched across the state on the directives of the CM, the spokesperson said since March 16, when the Amarinder government took over, as many as 16 dreaded gangsters had been arrested.

The police crackdown has also led to the busting of two terrorist modules, leading to the arrest of four militants, the spokesperson disclosed.

The CM ,said the spokesperson, had issued strict directions to the police and intelligence agencies in the state to come down heavily on all criminal gangs in the state. As of March 15, 2017, there were 22 organised criminal gangs operating in Punjab, with 240 gang members, of which 137 gangsters were lodged in various jails of the State, the spokesperson further revealed. 

As per official data, 12 category ‘A’ gangsters, and 10 category ‘B’ gangsters, are still absconding.

These criminal gangs, many of which are patronised by political leadership, have been involved in inter-gang rivalry killings, contract killings, extortion from real estate developers, drug smugglers, land-grabbing, kidnapping for ransom and other serious crimes, including drug and arms smuggling.