Chandigarh: Punjab Police, with the support of central agencies, has secured the deportation of wanted gangster Gurwinder alias Afridi from Ethiopia following a 10-month international manhunt.
He was taken into custody during the intervening night of November 7-8 by the state police at the Delhi airport and is being brought to Punjab to face the law, officials said Sunday.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said this marks the first-ever deportation of a fugitive secured by Punjab Police from an African country.
The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the state police, in close coordination with the Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC) of Counter Intelligence and with the support of central agencies, secured the deportation of fugitive gangster Gurwinder Singh alias Afridi from Ethiopia, he said.
Gurwinder alias Afridi, an alleged key kingpin of the Doni Bal-Prabh Dassuwal gang, was carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh announced by the Punjab government on information leading to his arrest. He was allegedly directing targeted killings, extortion-related firing incidents and organised criminal networks in Punjab while operating from abroad.
The accused is wanted in more than 30 heinous criminal cases, including five murder cases, attempt to murder, extortion, and Arms Act offences.
Afridi was wanted in five sensational murder cases in Punjab: the killings of Sarpanch Rajwinder alias Raj Talwandi (October 2024), 12-year-old boy Gursewak Singh (March 2025), Vicky Chugh (March 2025), Jaswant Singh (May 2025), and Congress Block President Gurmel Singh (September 2025), police said.
DGP Yadav, who was accompanied by Special DGP (AGTF) Promod Ban and Special DGP (Counter Intelligence) Amit Prasad, told reporters, “This marks the first-ever deportation of a fugitive secured by the Punjab Police from an African country, heralding a new chapter in the state’s relentless crackdown against organised crime.”
“This marks the successful culmination of ‘Operation SHAHID ‘- a 10-month-long intelligence-led international manhunt involving sustained surveillance, strategic intelligence gathering and tracking across multiple countries in Asia, South America and Africa, executed in close coordination with national and international agencies,” he said.
The Operation SHAHID was executed under the close supervision of IGP (OFTEC) of Counter Intelligence wing Ashish Chaudhary, who oversaw international coordination and follow-up efforts, and was led by SP (AGTF/OFTEC OPs) Bikramjit Singh Brar.
Yadav said Afridi had fled abroad from Mumbai airport to the UAE on March 31, 2025, using a fake passport fraudulently obtained under the particulars of a Gorakhpur resident and issued from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on February 12, 2025.
“The accused was constantly evading law enforcement agencies across several continents,” he said, adding that initially holed up in the UAE, Afridi attempted to flee to Mexico via Istanbul, but was deported back to the UAE.
Subsequently, he slipped into Kenya in April 2026, travelled onwards to Angola in June 2026, and moved to Ethiopia in November 2026, from where he was nabbed.
Yadav said the Punjab Police got a Red Notice issued against Gurwinder Afridi, shared inputs regarding his fake identity and movements with central agencies at critical intervals, and had as many as seven INTERPOL references issued.
The persistent multi-agency pursuit led to his detention in Ethiopia on November 6, 2026, and his subsequent deportation to India. He was taken into custody by the Punjab Police at New Delhi Airport and is being brought to Punjab to face the law.
The DGP commended the tireless efforts of AGTF and OFTEC teams, and thanked the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, and central intelligence and enforcement agencies for their seamless international cooperation in securing this deportation.
He said the message from the Punjab police is clear, which is that there are no safe havens for criminals, they will have to face the law.
“Another message from my side is that we have seen a lot of youths are getting misguided by social media. Our attitude towards such youths will remain positive. As per law, they will be dealt with sympathetic consideration. I will appeal to such youths to surrender to the law, and the law will take its own course,” the DGP said.
Replying to a question, he said it has been observed that many juveniles are also involved in criminal activity. He urged them not to fall prey to criminal elements who also leverage social media in a big way for recruitment, allurement, and even for operational matters.
He further said OFTEC was formed in January to fast-track deportations and extraditions. “We have been able to take action against 25 fugitives,” he said.
Since the constitution of the AGTF in April 2022, 3,339 arrests of criminals have been made, 1,293 criminal modules have been busted, and more than 2,500 weapons and 755 vehicles have been recovered, according to Yadav.
To a question on Pakistan’s role, the DGP said the neighbouring country “always wants to foment trouble and, through proxy wars, it wants to bleed India by a thousand cuts and, for this, ISI is used”.
On the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act, he said the Punjab government recently empowered eight IG rank officers on the pattern of Telangana and Karnataka, and they have been designated as detaining authorities.
“We will make detentions under the act. But we will use it judiciously, against people who are involved, who are big traffickers,” he said.
PTI
