Punjab's Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Sunday announced the launch of 72-hour-long Operation Prahaar – 2 with the focus on nabbing wanted criminals. The DGP, accompanied by Special DGP, Law and Order, Arpit Shukla, ADGP, Anti-Narcotics Task Force, Nilabh Kishore and Intelligence chief, Sukhchain Singh Gill, told the media that the Operation Prahaar resulted in the arrest of 3,256 individuals in 72 hours and 69 weapons were recovered from their possession.
The DGP said 'Operation Prahaar-2' will start on Monday and go on till Wednesday, and senior officers have been deputed for effective supervision of the operation. Sharing outcomes of 20 days of "Gangstran Te Vaar" campaign, he said police teams have arrested 5,290 individuals, including gangsters and criminals associated with them, and recovered 128 weapons from their possession after conducting 17,603 raids across the state.
Also, preventive action has been initiated against 2,973 people, whereas 5,413 were verified and released after questioning, he said, adding 344 proclaimed offenders (POs) were also arrested. Refuting all the fake narratives, he clarified that this is a lawful operation and the police will only arrest the person who is wanted in crime.
To enhance visible police presence and strengthen the crime response mechanism across the state, the DGP said Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on operational preparedness have also been issued. He said that Commissioners of Police have been directed to personally visit all important scenes of crime to supervise investigations and ensure the tracing of heinous offences.
As part of the confidence-building measures, all the district chiefs have been directed to personally conduct field visits in high footfall and hotspot areas, he added. DGP Yadav said the state's police force is being significantly augmented by auditing and mobilising force deployment from non-core duties to strengthen round-the-clock high-tech checkpoints and city sealing points.
Following reports that many vehicles are moving without numbers, which are being used in crimes, the operational directions have also been issued to intensify the checking of vehicles, with a specific focus on challaning and impounding vehicles, especially two-wheelers, moving without number plates.