GUN, POWDER!
THE WEEK India|March 05, 2023
Punjab’s youth are being used as foot soldiers by an expanding nexus of gangsters, terrorists and drug dealers
NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA
GUN, POWDER!

Gurjant Singh sat with his hands folded, shifting uncomfortably on his seat as he glanced first at the burly policemen and then at his mother, anxious to catch her expression. Charanjit, her face half-hidden by her dupatta, had been staring him down. As she spoke to the 17-year-old, her voice got louder and shriller. Gurjant, six-foot tall, trembled.

Then, turning to the cops who were blaming mothers for not noticing their sons’ errant ways, she screamed: “I can tell you I was strict with him. He fell into bad company without understanding the dangers involved.”

It all started when Gurjant became friends with Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Numberdar, 18, of Naushehra Pannuan village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district. The duo would hang out together on bikes. One such ride on a dusty afternoon took an ugly turn when a drone from Pakistan dropped an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade), the kind that mujahideen in Afghanistan used. Their friends picked it up, though they did not know what was inside the package. Gopi knew. He, said the police, was using teenagers to execute a plan to fire the RPG at the Sarhali police station in Tarn Taran on December 9, 2022. He said he did this for Canada-based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh Sandhu, better known as Landa.

Gopi is now in jail, but Landa is wanted. The National Investigation Agency has offered a reward for information on his whereabouts. He is also wanted in the RPG attack on the police intelligence headquarters in Mohali on May 9, 2022.

This story is from the March 05, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the March 05, 2023 edition of THE WEEK India.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE WEEK INDIAView All
William Dalrymple goes further back
THE WEEK India

William Dalrymple goes further back

Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
The bleat from the street
THE WEEK India

The bleat from the street

What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Courage and conviction
THE WEEK India

Courage and conviction

Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
EPIC ENTERPRISE
THE WEEK India

EPIC ENTERPRISE

Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Upgrade your jeans
THE WEEK India

Upgrade your jeans

If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 17, 2024
Garden by the sea
THE WEEK India

Garden by the sea

When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus

time-read
4 mins  |
November 17, 2024
RECRUITERS SPEAK
THE WEEK India

RECRUITERS SPEAK

Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
MORAL COMPASS
THE WEEK India

MORAL COMPASS

The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape

time-read
5 mins  |
November 17, 2024
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
THE WEEK India

B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH

INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

time-read
3 mins  |
November 17, 2024
COURSE CORRECTION
THE WEEK India

COURSE CORRECTION

India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI

time-read
8 mins  |
November 17, 2024