Chandigarh: The recent jailbreak from the high security jail in Nabha of Punjab has put the spotlight on the sudden growth of organised crime in the state. Gradually, from being a state known for lush green fields and hardworking people, Punjab had taken on the avatar of being the drug capital of the country. Now, the latest addition to this sordid saga is the advent of “gangs” that are organised, tech-savvy and go about their exploitation and intimidation racket using social media. The organised gangs in Punjab have changed the landscape of crime in the country. What has also changed is that jails — once a space to put away criminals — have become safe havens for these gangsters, who operate their gangs from there.
For many years several recommendations were made to upgrade and modernise high-security jails. There was also a demand to install high-frequency jammers in the jails, have trained dog squads to monitor the inmates and post CRPF men as jail security staff. However, none of these recommendations were accepted in any of the Punjab jails. In many high-security jails like Tihar in Delhi, it is the CRPF that is responsible for jail security. In Punjab, however, it is still the local police that does the job. And the state authorities’ lack of interest in installing jammers has given rise to gangsters who are using their smartphones under the nose of the police. In fact, many of these organised gangs have Facebook pages and worryingly they seem to have found many young followers. These young followers are not necessarily criminals, but idolise their “favourite gangster”.
In a reminder of how active these gangs are on social media, early this year, a gangster-turned politician Jaswinder Singh was killed. There was a surge on social media by members of rival gangs to take credit for his killing, some of who updated their status on social media from inside jail.
A former policeman says that there is a very clear link between the rise of the drug trade and the rise of organised crime in the state — the link lies in the jails of the state deteriorating and falling into the grip of politicians with vested interests. “It is only with political patronage that jails of the state have become safe havens for gangsters.” It is well-known that a politician who was jailed in the state found it difficult to handle the heat and the jail authorities fixed an AC in his cell to help him cope. Former DGP of Punjab police Shashikant, who has raised the issue of securing jails in the past, feels that even the latest jailbreak could not have been possible without political patronage and police support. “The gangsters, who escaped from Nabha Jail, will be used for political purposes in the forthcoming Assembly elections. There is every chance that these gangsters could be used to influence elections,” he said.
