Organised crime is Haryana's biggest industry, claims Congress MP Randeep Surjewala

The Hindu

20-07-2025

Congress Rajya Sabha member Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday (July 20, 2025) termed Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who also holds the Home portfolio, a 'complete failure' and demanded that he step down, alleging that 'organised crime is the biggest industry in the State today'.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on the prevailing law-and-order situation, Mr. Surjewala alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had turned Haryana, the land of the Bhagavad Gita, into the land of 'Gangs of Wasseypur', claiming that the State was ruled by 'mafias, guns, bullets and ransom' rather than by the Constitution.
Asserting that crime cannot flourish without political patronage, Mr. Surjewala said the police functioned at the behest of the political leadership. Those in power, he alleged, were either 'weak', 'worthless' and 'incompetent' to govern or were offering shelter to criminal elements. 'In both cases, they should quit,' he said.
Citing official figures, the former Haryana Minister claimed the deteriorating law-and-order situation was reflected not just in newspaper headlines but in official statistics. 'As per the National Crime Records Bureau, three people are murdered and five sexual offences are committed in Haryana daily. In 2024, 966 people were murdered and 16,743 crimes were committed against women, which means 46 women fell victim to these crimes every day. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 4,137 people have gone missing, most cases being related to kidnapping,' he said.
Mr. Surjewala further said that during a meeting of seven Directors General of Police in February this year, the State government admitted that 80 criminal gangs — including the Lawrence, Bhau, Kaushal Chaudhary, Goldy Brar, Rana and Vikas Gulia (Dubai) gangs — were active in Haryana.
Blaming part of the situation on unemployment, Mr. Surjewala claimed that police officials had stated that these gangs, operating from India and countries such as Dubai, Canada, and Australia, were recruiting unemployed youth by offering amounts ranging between ₹5,000 and ₹20,000.
Mr. Surjewala, who is also the All India Congress Committee general secretary, said a report compiled by him based on press reports from nine districts indicated a 'dangerous trend'. According to him, Faridabad had recorded 41 murders so far this year, followed by 38 each in Jind and Gurugram, 25 in Panipat, 21 in Kaithal, 20 in Karnal, 18 in Kurukshetra, 15 in Yamunanagar and 11 in Sirsa. 'It was a similar situation during the Indian National Lok Dal's rule in 2005, and has now even worsened,' he said.
Comparing the situation with the previous Congress government, Mr. Surjewala said that prior to 2014, headlines were about sporting achievements, rising investments in the National Capital Region and Haryana's performance in development indices. 'After the BJP formed the government under Manohar Lal, the headlines changed to reports about paper leaks, corruption in jobs and atrocities on farmers. Under Nayab Saini, we are now reading about drug and sand mafias, an unbridled bureaucracy, and criminal extortion,' he alleged.
Reacting to the allegations, Haryana BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said the police had taken strict action against criminals and the process of arrests had been expedited. He added that action would soon be taken against those issuing threats from abroad.