KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
22-Jan-2026
Patna Police on January 23 arrested Lawrence Bishnoi gang operative Parmanand Yadav alias Nepali after an encounter in Patna, Bihar. A day earlier, on January 22, police arrested three other operatives—Neeraj Kumar alias Vicky, Chandan Kumar, and Shivam Anand—in Beur, Bihar, and recovered a country-made revolver, six live cartridges, INR 40,000 in cash, and 5,110 Nepalese rupees. Police said Neeraj Kumar managed the gang’s accounts and financial transactions.
22-Jan-2026
Punjab Police arrested 3,256 individuals linked to drug cartels run by foreign-based gangsters during its three-day campaign against gangsters ‘Operation Prahar,’ which concluded on January 22. Police detained 4,281 people, with 3,256 arrests made after interrogation, including over 80 proclaimed offenders, while more than 25 were placed under preventive custody. The operation led to the seizure of 69 weapons, 6.5 kg of heroin, 10.5 kg of opium, 5,092 intoxicating pills, 72 kg of poppy husk, and INR 2.69 lakh in drug money.
22-Jan-2026
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on January 22 condemned the “trespassing and vandalism” at the Indian embassy in Croatia by “anti-India elements,” asserting that diplomatic premises are inviolable under the Vienna Convention and must be protected. It said the matter was strongly taken up with Croatian authorities in New Delhi and Zagreb, urging them to hold the perpetrators accountable for their illegal actions.
22-Jan-2026
Police on January 22 arrested eight drug peddlers in separate cases and seized 295 intoxicant tablets from them in Hoshiarpur district.
22-Jan-2026
Moga police on January 22 arrested three members of the Bambiha gang, identified as Gurvinder Singh alias Gagna, Jaspreet Singh, and Ekjot Singh and seized four .32-bore country-made pistols with magazines, 15 live .32-bore cartridges, one .30-bore country-made pistol with a magazine, and additional live cartridges in the Ajitwal area of Moga district.
22-Jan-2026
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 22 conducted searches at 10 locations in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab in connection with the 2025 Amritsar temple grenade attack case. Mobile phones, digital devices, and documents were seized during the searches. The blast occurred outside the Thakur Dwara Sanatan Temple at Khandwala on Sher Shah Road in Amritsar on March 14, 2025. The NIA probe revealed that the attack was carried out on the directions of foreign-based handlers who were recruiting and funding individuals in India to execute grenade attacks.
22-Jan-2026
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on January 22 arrested three accomplices of a woman held at the airport with narcotics, including the kingpin Shammi and associates Parminder Singh and Rana Pratap, in Amritsar. The arrests followed the seizure of 1.5 kg of heroin from 19-year-old Aarti Kaur, who was intercepted at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar after arriving from Thailand.
22-Jan-2026
Khanna police on January 22 arrested a youth, identified as Gurmeet Singh and recovered 1 kg of heroin from his possession in the Samrala area in Ludhiana district.
22-Jan-2026
Khanna Police busted an inter-district drug trafficking racket operated from inside a jail in Ludhiana district. Investigations revealed that Sunil Kumar alias Bachhi, a Samrala resident lodged in jail, was running a heroin supply network using an illegal mobile phone, while his family managed the proceeds outside. His mother allegedly handled the drug money, facilitating the racket’s financial operations.
22-Jan-2026
Sources said on January 22 that Pakistan-backed terrorists are planning attacks in India, particularly in Delhi, around Republic Day (January 26), prompting intelligence agencies to issue an alert. The terrorists are reportedly attempting to infiltrate India via Bangladesh to carry out strikes in the national capital. Intelligence inputs also indicated that Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) is allegedly planning multiple attacks and has used social media to activate sleeper cells in Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab.
21-Jan-2026
Punjab Police on January 21 arrested two members of a cross-border illegal arms module linked to Pakistan-based smugglers and seized six sophisticated pistols (two Glock and four .30 bore) along with two cartridges, in Amritsar district. The accused were involved in trafficking arms and supplying weapons to gangsters on the directions of foreign handlers.
21-Jan-2026
Police on January 21 arrested three persons, identified as Sartaj Singh, Safalpreet Singh and Sukhchain Singh, and seized 200 grams of heroin and INR 3,150 drug money from them near the railway underpass in Tarn Taran in Tarn Taran district.
21-Jan-2026
Police on January 21 arrested one person and seized 45 grams of heroin, an electronic weighing scale and INR 13,700 drug money from him, in Tarn Taran district.
21-Jan-2026
The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) on January 21 recovered arms and ammunition—including three pistols, six magazines, and 150 live cartridges—from Bhindi Aulakh village near the India–Pakistan border in Amritsar district.
21-Jan-2026
On January 21, Punjab Police, on day 326 of its “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign, registered 78 first information reports (FIRs), arrested 152 drug smugglers and seized 377 grams of heroin, 1529 intoxicant tablets/capsules and INR 5200 drug money from the possession of arrested persons, across the state.
21-Jan-2026
On January 21, the second day of Punjab Police’s “Operation Prahar” against gangsters, 1,186 associates of foreign-based gangsters were arrested across Punjab, taking the total arrests to 2,500. Earlier, on January 20, 1,314 individuals were arrested statewide on Day 1 of the operation. Major arrests included Amritpal Singh alias Gaggu, an A-category criminal linked to the Bambiha gang with five criminal cases, and Harpreet Singh alias Preetu, a B-category criminal associated with the Jaipal Bhullar gang. Additionally, around 40 suspects were questioned and 12 proclaimed offenders (POs) were also arrested.
21-Jan-2026
Punjab Police on January 21 arrested a gangster, Jeevan Singh, shortly after his arrival from Dubai, at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Acting on a lookout circular, police apprehended him upon disembarkation; he was wanted in several heinous offences, including extortion cases in Punjab.
21-Jan-2026
Security forces in Delhi were placed on high alert on January 21 following intelligence inputs warning of a coordinated terrorist attack allegedly planned by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), through Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with support from Punjab-based gangsters, on or before Republic Day (January 26), code-named “26-26.” Potential targets reportedly included the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Raghunath Temple in Jammu, and other temples and cities.
21-Jan-2026
An email received at the Shimla Deputy Commissioner’s office threatened a “suicide bombing” if Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu arrives to hoist the national flag on Republic Day. Police have registered a case against an unknown person at Sadar police station, Shimla, under relevant sections. Earlier, in August 2025, a similar threat was allegedly sent by the Khalistani outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), warning the CM against unfurling the Tricolour on August 15.
21-Jan-2026
The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, on January 21 arrested Raman Kumar, a resident of Gangyal in Jammu, for alleged links with Pakistan-based terrorist Shahzad Bhatti, in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district. A .30-bore pistol was recovered from his possession on January 23 following his disclosure. Police said Kumar had been in long-standing contact with Bhatti and was acting on his directions. He was arrested in connection with an Arms Act case registered on December 10, 2025, at the SSOC Mohali police station and was brought from Ambala jail to Punjab on a production warrant and produced before a district court.
20-Jan-2026
The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Fazilka police on January 20 arrested a gangster, identified as Pritpal Singh after he was injured in an encounter at a naka near Arniwala village in Fazilka district. He was wanted in a murder case linked to a fatal shootout near the District Judicial Court Complex on April 22, 2025.
20-Jan-2026
Police on January 20 arrested a key shooter of the Jaipal Bhullar gang, identified as Harjinder Singh alias Laddi and seized one .32-bore Beretta pistol, three empty cartridges, and two live rounds, during an encounter on the southern bypass of Patiala city in Patiala district. The gangster was injured in the encounter.
20-Jan-2026
On January 20, Punjab Police, on day 325 of its “Yudh Nashian Virudh” campaign, registered 49 first information reports (FIRs), arrested 76 drug smugglers and seized 1.3 kg of heroin, 1 kg of opium, 18 kg of poppy husk, 130 intoxicant tablets/capsules and INR 2250 drug money from the possession of arrested persons, across the state.
20-Jan-2026
Amritsar police on January 20 killed a notorious criminal, Mani Prince alias Mani Soorma, in a brief encounter and recovered a sophisticated PX5 pistol, near the Defence drain in the Gharinda area of Amritsar district. A native of Tarn Taran, Mani Soorma had around 50 FIRs against him for offences including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, extortion, and repeated firing incidents across Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts. He had earlier been arrested on January 12 after an encounter in the Kamboh police station area in Amritsar but escaped from Guru Nanak Dev Hospital two days later after dodging the police escort.
20-Jan-2026
Jalandhar Rural police on January 20 arrested two youths, identified as Angrej Singh and Karanvir, in connection with a firing incident and seized a .30-bore pistol, one live cartridge, a cartridge shell, and a motorcycle after a brief encounter in Sohal Jagir village, Jalandhar district. The firing had occurred outside a house in Sohal Jagir village of Shahkot nine days earlier.