Chandigarh: Punjab Police, in their daily report dated Saturday, 31 October, said teams conducted 475 raids on Day 284 of the 'Gangstran Te Vaar' campaign at identified and mapped locations linked to gangster associates across the state, arresting 152 people — taking total arrests since the campaign's launch to 81,837, according to the police's own release.
Source: Bright Punjab Express (Punjab Police release)
Police said preventive action was also taken against 158 persons that day, and three proclaimed offenders were arrested. According to the release, the campaign was launched by Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav on 20 January 2026, and district teams are operating in coordination with the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF). Police repeated the anti-gangster helpline number 93946-93946 for anonymous tips. The Punjabi report of the same release carried by Malwa News matches the same totals: 475 raids, 152 arrests and 81,837 cumulative arrests.
Source: Malwa News
The same release carried the day's figures for the anti-drug drive: on Day 609 of 'Yudh Nashian Virudh', 139 drug smugglers were arrested and 10 kg of heroin, 1 kg of opium, 680 intoxicant pills and Rs 13,400 in drug money were recovered — taking cumulative drug-smuggler arrests to 89,774 in 609 days, police said. Police added that 39 persons were persuaded to undergo de-addiction and rehabilitation treatment that day.
This follows the previous day's tally reported by Awaaz Punjab, when Day 283 of 'Gangstran Te Vaar' recorded 514 raids and total arrests of 81,685, and Day 608 of the drug drive took its reported total to 89,561.
To be clear: every figure in this story is Punjab Police's own reported number from its official daily release — a police account of arrests and seizures, not a court finding, and not independently audited. The reports reviewed carried no opposition or independent reaction, and none has been added.
What happens next: the two drives are the government's most visible law-and-order programmes, and ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections these daily tallies will remain the main evidence the government cites for its drugs and gangster claims — figures the opposition has repeatedly questioned in the past, though it had issued no statement on this specific report at the time of writing.