New Delhi: After Indian agencies apprehended three absconding Indian gangsters in Malaysia, ensured their deportation to India, and handed them over to the police, the Union Home Ministry on Monday said that, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a safe and secure India, the agencies had facilitated the deportation of 51 hardened criminals in 2026 alone.
The Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, secured the deportation of three operatives of the Davinder Bambiha gang from Malaysia on August 19 in a major crackdown on transnational organised crime.
“Indian agencies got three absconding Indian gangsters apprehended in Malaysia, deported them to India, and sent them to police custody”, the Home Minister’s Office said in a post on its X handle.
“The fugitives, namely Jaspreet Singh, Ajay Singh, and Pawandeep Singh, are linked to the Bambiha Gang and are accused of multiple crimes, including extortion, cross-border arms and narco-trafficking, and a foiled grenade attack in Ludhiana. Under Modi Ji’s vision of a safe and secure India, our agencies have facilitated the deportation of 51 hardened criminals in 2026 alone.”
Earlier, the Central government said that India had successfully brought back 274 fugitive criminals from 36 countries between 2019 and July 2026 as part of an intensified drive to ensure that offenders evading Indian law while staying abroad are brought to justice.
The achievement was made possible through stronger legal provisions, enhanced international cooperation, coordinated action among multiple agencies and technology-driven investigations carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said: “Previous governments lacked the political will to bring back fugitives; the Modi government has made the extradition of fugitives a ‘national priority’… Amit Shah has described the issue of fugitive offenders as one that is intrinsically linked to the country’s sovereignty, economic stability, law and order, and national security.”
According to the Ministry, the government’s approach to tackling fugitive offenders has been built around three major pillars — global outreach, stronger coordination, and smart diplomacy.
The MHA said that the legal framework for pursuing absconding offenders has been significantly strengthened through the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, amendments to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2019, along with provisions under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which permit trials in absentia under Sections 355 and 356.
To strengthen international cooperation, the government launched BHARATPOL in January 2025, creating an integrated platform connecting more than 1,400 state and central law enforcement agencies with INTERPOL.
(IANS)
