3 min readLudhianaMay 18, 2026 05:36 PM IST
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav announced on Monday the arrests of two operatives of a transnational gang led by Lakha, whose members allegedly fired at migrant labourers in Moga in February and got an RSS leader murdered in Ferozepur.
DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused were acting on directions of handlers operating from Germany and Dubai, UAE, and had been assigned high-profile targeted shootings. Their timely arrest successfully averted potentially serious criminal activities, he said.
The police identified the arrested accused as Anuraj, alias Gaurav Masih, and Ankush, both residents of Phillaur in Jalandhar. They also recovered three illegal pistols along with 11 live cartridges from the two accused.
Swapan Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, said the arrested accused are members of the Lakha gang involved in supari killings, extortion killings, and other illegal activities.
“Lakha’s associates are in Germany and Dubai, via whom he was in touch with these local youths. During their interrogation, it came to light that they were planning killings in five districts, including one in Haryana and four in Punjab (Moga, Ferozepur, Khanna and Faridkot). Weapons came from across the border. Lakha is the same person whose module members had also fired at migrant labourers in Moga in February this year to create tension and disharmony in Punjab. He had also got an RSS leader murdered in Ferozepur. We are still verifying the credentials of Lakha’s associates in Germany and Dubai,” he said.
Sharma said the arrested men confessed to being active members of an organised, transnational criminal syndicate operated directly by handlers based abroad. “These overseas handlers utilised their network to supply high-grade weapons to the arrested operatives and had assigned them specific, high-value targets,” he said.
Sharma said a joint party of the Crime Investigation Agency, or CIA Staff, and Counter-Intelligence Ludhiana set up a barricade within the Ladhowal police station limits. Acting swiftly on precise intelligence that two armed individuals were waiting near the Hardy’s World area, the police conducted a raid and apprehended both of them, he said.
Story continues below this ad
Ankush is a habitual offender and was previously booked under an attempt to murder case registered at the Goraya police station in Jalandhar.
The Ladhowal police registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 111 (organised crime) and Arms Act section 25 against the two men.
The police also impounded a Bajaj CT 100 motorcycle (without a registration number) that the accused allegedly used for criminal activities.
