Chandigarh, Feb 8 A series of murders, including that of an AAP leader, in the first few weeks of the year, has once again brought the "deteriorating" law and order situation in Punjab to the fore, with opposition parties fiercely criticizing the AAP government over its perceived failure to control killings and extortion threats.
Concerned over the prevailing law and order situation, Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria stated that the fear of the law among criminals appears to be absent.
While the police claim that the situation is under control, a former state DGP believes that administrative agencies need to pay more attention to contain criminal activities.
Since January, six high-profile murders have taken place in the state, highlighting the state of public security.
One of the most recent was the murder of AAP leader Lucky Oberoi in Jalandhar and a 62-year-old woman, the wife of a retired assistant sub-inspector, in Hoshiarpur.
In the daylight murder, Oberoi was shot by an unidentified assailant outside a gurdwara in Jalandhar's Model Town on Friday, shortly after he stepped out of the shrine after offering prayers.
Gangster Joga Pholriwal claimed responsibility for the murder, alleging that the AAP leader was killed due to personal enmity over a dispute regarding the presidency of a college.
Following this murder, opposition party leaders questioned if even ruling party leaders are not safe, then what hope remains for ordinary citizens.
On Saturday, 62-year-old Rachna Devi was shot dead by an unidentified motorcycle-borne assailant in Mehandwani Gujran village in Hoshiarpur when she was returning home after paying obeisance at a nearby religious place.
On January 28, the murder of Gurwinder Singh, one of the accused in the 2020 murder of a cousin of gangster Goldy Brar, shocked the state when he was shot dead by two unidentified assailants near the senior superintendent of police's office in Mohali.
The killing right outside the office of the district police chief also provided ammunition for opposition parties to target the AAP government.
Prior to that, AAP Sarpanch Jharmal Singh of Valthoa village in Tarn Taran was shot dead on January 4 at a wedding at point-blank range. CCTV footage showed two shooters walking into the wedding venue, and one of them pulling out a gun and firing at Singh's head before fleeing the scene.
Head Constable Amandeep Singh was stabbed to death in Patiala by a group of people on January 25, while Ranbir Singh, a chemist, was shot dead by two assailants in Gurdaspur on January 28.
However, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav on Sunday said that the state's crime rate is lower than that of other states, citing figures in this regard. He said the national average of crime rate per lakh population is 450, while Punjab's crime rate is 227. He further said that the crime rate in neighboring Haryana was 739, whereas in the national capital Delhi, it is 1,602.
Regarding violent crimes, Yadav said the national average is 31.2 per lakh population. He stated that it is 20 in Punjab, 48.6 in Haryana and 51.5 in Delhi.
Crimes with personal motives cannot always be prevented in any country. He said that preventive measures can be taken to prevent them.
In the last three years, the state saw 92 shooting incidents linked to organised crime, of which 84 cases were worked out. A total of 216 shooters were involved, and out of them, 160 were arrested, and 56 were still at large, he said.
Police had previously stated that the state saw substantial reductions across major crime heads in 2025 in comparison to corresponding figures of 2024, with murders decreasing by 8.7 per cent (745 to 680), kidnappings and abductions by 10.6 per cent (1770 to 1583), snatching by 19.6 per cent (2321 to 1866), and thefts by 34.3 per cent (6714 to 4410).
The Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force busted over 400 gangster and criminal modules after arresting 992 such elements, and recovered 620 weapons in 2025.
Though gangsters operating from foreign soil and inside jails pose a serious challenge for the Punjab Police, cops have claimed that 80 per cent extortion threats are made by local criminals with no links to gangs.
Besides, continuous smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics from across the border is also a challenge for the security agencies.
Former Director General of Police of Punjab and Maharashtra, Sarabdeep Singh Virk, on Sunday stressed that more attention towards the law and order situation is required, given the frequency with which murders are taking place.
"The way murders are taking place and law and order violations are taking place, it needs greater care and attention on the part of the government and the administrative agencies.
"The situation needs to be controlled...It is not that the government might not be trying, but more care and attention is required. The kind of disorder taking place needs to be controlled," said Virk, who had remained at the forefront in the fight against militancy in Punjab.
"Activate the intelligence, police patrolling, checkpoints, and you have to bring the situation under effective control. It is not impossible; they (police) are probably (doing it). They need to put in more effort," said Virk, a Padma Shri awardee.
Governor Kataria, on Saturday, while replying to a question on the Opposition raising questions over the law and order situation in Punjab, said, "Whether the Opposition says it or not, there is a feeling among common people that the fear of law, which should exist in the minds of criminals, seems to be missing."
Shiromani Akali Dal senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema said there is a "total collapse" of the law and order situation under the AAP regime in Punjab.
"Everybody, be it a businessman or trader, is feeling unsafe. There is a jungle raj, and the government is not visible anywhere," he said, as he targeted the Bhagwant Mann government over the law and order situation.
