Delhi unleashes its biggest pre-Republic Day crackdown, over 850 detained

In a sweeping show of force ahead of Republic Day, the Delhi Police launched a massive 48-hour offensive against organized crime across the Capital and the National Capital Region, arresting 854 people and dismantling key gang networks in an operation codenamed “Operation Gang-Bust 2026.”

The high-intensity crackdown, carried out from 8 pm on January 9 to 8 pm on January 11, was aimed at neutralising criminal syndicates and preventing any subversive or terror-linked activity from threatening January 26 celebrations, senior police officials said.

More than 9,000 police personnel from district units, the Crime Branch and the Special Cell fanned out across Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, mounting one of the largest coordinated policing operations in recent years. Teams stormed over 4,000 suspected gang hideouts, questioning and rounding up more than 6,500 individuals linked to criminal networks.

The blitz resulted in 690 FIRs being registered under a raft of laws including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Arms Act, NDPS Act, Delhi Excise Act and Gambling Act, with 854 accused formally arrested.

Major gangs hit

Police said the operation delivered a direct blow to some of Delhi-NCR’s most notorious gang leaders. Among those picked up were associates of gangs run by Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu (14 arrests), Jitendra Mann alias Gogi (13), Kala Jathedi–Anil Chhippi (9), Neeraj Bawana (5), Hashim Baba (5), Tillu (7), and Saddam Gauri–Salman Tyagi (7).
Members of smaller gangs accounted for another 207 arrests, taking the total number of gang-linked arrests to 280.

Weapons, drugs and cash seized

The scale of the seizures underscored the depth of the criminal ecosystem targeted in the operation. Police recovered:

• 122 firearms,
• 189 knives and 129 rounds of ammunition,
• 117 mobile phones,
• one car, two motorcycles and two scooters, and
• ₹25.75 lakh in cash.

In addition, officers seized over 117 kg of narcotics, including ganja, heroin, cocaine and charas, along with psychotropic tablets, cough syrup bottles and buprenorphine injections. A haul of 28,364 quarters of illicit liquor was also recovered.

A sustained war on organized crime

The operation was conducted under the close supervision of Special Commissioners, Joint and Additional Commissioners, and Deputy Commissioners from district police, the Crime Branch and the Special Cell.

Officials said the latest sweep is part of a sustained campaign against organised crime in the Capital. Between September and December last year, Delhi Police arrested 183 gangsters, seized arms and cash worth over ₹1.01 crore, and attached properties including gold, silver and vehicles linked to criminal syndicates.

Police stressed that the strategy will now intensify, with property seizures, use of MCOCA, trials in absentia and the deportation of foreign-based gang members forming the backbone of their ongoing offensive.

As Delhi prepares for Republic Day, law enforcement has sent a blunt message: the city’s criminal underworld will get no space to operate.