The police probe after the arrest of two associates of notorious gangsters Doni Bal and Arsh Bagga has found multiple youngsters from the area were in contact with criminal elements based overseas and were being recruited though social media.
The two accused — Sukhwinder Singh, alias Raji Neela, and Rajveer Singh, alias Raji, arrested with illegal weapons — were planning to target local industrialists to extort money from them.
The police said gangsters were contacting youngsters using social media and offering them money to recruit them into their gangs.
The gangsters also assured to provide weapons for carrying out shootings at their behest.
“The gangsters have been recruiting youngsters who are unemployed and drug addicts. They convince them to become a part of their gang, offering money and drugs in exchange,” said a senior police official privy to the details of the investigation.
The police said two .30-bore pistols and nine live cartridges from the two accused arrested a couple of days ago were supplied by Doni Bal and Arsh Bagga.
Delving into their modus operandi, a police official said gangsters would first gain youngsters’ trust through casual conversation and then lure them into the world of crime with the allure of money.
During questioning, the arrested suspects revealed they were tasked with killing a businessperson and were promised Rs 1 lakh in return.
Cybercrime wing on alert
A senior police official said the cybercrime wing had zeroed down on multiple social media accounts of youngsters suspected to be in touch with gangsters and criminal elements living abroad.
“From time to time, the cyber wing scans suspicious social media profiles. The team keeps tabs on profiles on Facebook, Instagram, X and other social media platforms, and keeps a check on the movement these suspects for weeks, sometimes even months, before reaching a conclusion. After obtaining contact numbers linked to the profiles, the police scan call details. If they get a clue about the connection of suspicious profiles with gangsters, action is taken accordingly,” the police official added.
The police said plans were afoot to write to the relevant authorities to order shutdown of profiles being run in the names of gangsters. Sources said the police are compiling a list of profiles made in the name of gangsters.
