Chandigarh, September 12: In a major breakthrough against transnational organised crime, Punjab Police has secured its first-ever extradition from a European country, bringing back fugitive criminal Amritpal Singh alias Amrit Dalam, a key operative of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, from Moldova.
Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC), with assistance from central agencies, secured the extradition as part of the ongoing ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’ campaign launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday.
Amrit Dalam is wanted in multiple cases involving murder, attempt to murder, offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act and narcotics laws.
Moldovan authorities detained Amrit Dalam on February 24, 2026, while he was allegedly attempting to cross the Otaci state border towards Ukraine. Punjab Police subsequently initiated extradition proceedings through OFTEC.
The Court of Chisinau granted his extradition to India on May 26, 2026, while his appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal Centru on July 16, making the extradition order final.
Following the order, a four-member Punjab Police team travelled to Moldova to bring the accused back. The team was led by SP AGTF Bikramjit Singh Brar and included Inspector Pushvinder Singh, SI Jaspreet Singh and ASI Varinder Kumar.
Amrit Dalam was taken into custody by the Punjab Police team at Chisinau Airport on Friday and arrived at IGI Airport, New Delhi, on Saturday morning. He is now being brought back to Punjab to face the law.
DGP Gaurav Yadav described the operation as a significant milestone in Punjab Police’s fight against organised crime. He said the extradition marked the successful culmination of ‘Operation Eastern Reach’, a six-month intelligence-led international manhunt involving sustained surveillance, strategic intelligence gathering and coordination with national and international agencies.
The DGP thanked the Moldovan and Azerbaijani authorities, International Police Cooperation Unit of the CBI (IPCU-CBI), Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and other central agencies for their cooperation.
According to ADGP AGTF Promod Ban, Amrit Dalam is wanted in at least seven murder cases, including the 2019 murder of Dalbir Singh in Batala; the 2024 double murder of Amrjeet Lal and Kashmiri Lal in Hoshiarpur; the 2025 murder of Dharamjit Singh alias Dharma; the 2025 double murder of Kanav Mahajan and Sarabjit Singh alias Kaka; and the 2025 murder of Jasdeep Singh alias Deep Cheema.
The accused allegedly fled abroad in October 2024 using a fake passport prepared using the particulars of Gurpal, son of Hira Singh, a resident of Kurukshetra, Haryana.
Punjab Police tracked his movements across several countries and issued a Red Notice, while information about his alleged fake passport and whereabouts was shared with central agencies at different stages, eventually facilitating the extradition.
IGP Counter Intelligence Ashish Choudhary said that since the establishment of OFTEC, 10 high-priority fugitives, including the present extradition, have now been brought back to India from different countries. Two extradition requests pursued by the Cell this year have resulted in success, with the earlier case involving Amritpal Mehron from the UAE.
OFTEC is currently pursuing extradition proceedings against 11 other foreign-based fugitives, the IGP said.
