Ferozepur, July 23: With an orange turban covering his head and the tail end of the same cloth covering his face, gangster Gurpreet Singh Gopi calmly answers questions at a lockup in Ferozepur, a district in Punjab that borders Pakistan. Gopi says “ji”, a rather polite term for acknowledgement, when asked if he has carried out murders.
“I am part of Jaswant Singh Kala gang. He is also in jail. I am inspired by him,” says Gopi. Arrested on July 12, police say he is connected to the dreaded Babbar Khalsa — a terrorist organisation seeking independent Khalistan, a separate country for Sikhs living in India and Pakistan.
For anyone who remembers the insurgency in Punjab in the late 1970s, when hundreds of youths turned to militancy propagated by Khalistani proponents, the current spate of youngsters picking up guns is an ominous sign.
An equally big problem is the rise of gangsters as social media heroes with fan following running into tens of thousands in some cases. This is making the job of the police tough and a campaign has been launched to counter the propaganda of rogue elements. The Director General of Punjab Police, Suresh Arora, says it’s important to ensure that youngsters don’t fall prey to the propaganda of violent elements.
Outside the world of Internet, posters of identified gangsters have been put up at dhabas and bus stands, seeking help of general public in nabbing the gangsters.
News Source: http://www.news18.com
