Wanted gangster Gurwinder alias Afridi deported from Ethiopia to India

UPDATE - follow-up to Deportation of wanted Punjab gangster Afridi secured after 10-month international manhunt: Wanted gangster Gurwinder, known as Afridi, has been brought back to India from Ethiopia by Punjab Police following a ten-month international manhunt. He landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport early Sunday and is being escorted to Punjab by an Anti-Gangster Task Force team led by SP Bikram Brar.

Operations and Background

According to Hindustan Times, this marks the first time Punjab Police has secured the return of a fugitive from an African country. Afridi is a resident of Tut village in Tarn Taran district and a key kingpin of the Doni Bal-Prabh Dassuwal gang. The Punjab government had announced a cash reward of 5 lakh rupees for information leading to his arrest. Police state he was directing targeted killings, extortion-related firing, and organized crime in Punjab from abroad.

Investigation Details

The ten-month operation, named Operation SHAHID, involved intelligence gathering and tracking across Asia, South America, and Africa. The Anti-Gangster Task Force and the Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell worked alongside central agencies and the Ministry of External Affairs. Afridi's name previously surfaced during investigations into the August 2022 church attack in Tarn Taran's Thakkarpura village, where masked men tied up a security guard, vandalized religious statues, and burned a pastor's car.

Context

Law enforcement agencies in India increasingly target criminals who operate extortion rings and coordinate violent crimes from foreign soil. State police forces coordinate with national bodies like central agencies and the Ministry of External Affairs to track and extradite fugitives hiding overseas.