Fake passport, 5 countries, 10 months: How Punjab Police ran down gangster Gurwinder Afridi

Chandigarh. He fled India on a passport made in another man’s name. He tried to reach Mexico and was sent back. He then hid in Kenya, Angola and Ethiopia. On November 6, his run ended in Addis Ababa.

Gurwinder Singh alias Afridi, a key leader of the Doni Bal-Prabh Dassuwal gang, is now in Punjab Police custody. He is accused in five murders, one of them the killing of a 12-year-old boy. Police say it is the first time they have brought back a fugitive from an African country.

“This marks the first-ever deportation of a fugitive secured by Punjab Police from an African country,” Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav told reporters at Punjab Police Headquarters on Sunday.

A Punjab Police transit team arrested Afridi when he landed at New Delhi airport on the night of November 7-8. The Punjab government had announced a ₹5 lakh reward for him.

A passport in another man’s name

According to the DGP, Afridi flew out of Mumbai airport on March 31, 2025. His passport had been issued in Lucknow on February 12, 2025, using the details of a man from Gorakhpur.

He first hid in the UAE. When he sensed investigators were close, he tried to fly to Mexico through Istanbul. Turkish authorities turned him back to the UAE. He then moved to Kenya in April 2026, Angola in June and Ethiopia in November.

Killings back home

Police allege that while he hid abroad, he kept ordering killings and extortion-linked shootings in Punjab over encrypted calls. He faces more than 30 criminal cases, including attempt to murder, extortion and Arms Act offences, and is the prime accused in five murders:

– Sarpanch Rajwinder alias Raj Talwandi, October 2024

– 12-year-old Gursewak Singh, March 2025

– Vicky Chugh, March 2025

– Jaswant Singh, May 2025

– Congress block president Gurmel Singh, September 2025

The paper trail that caught him

The manhunt, called Operation SHAHID, was run by the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) along with the Overseas Fugitive Tracking and Extradition Cell (OFTEC) of Punjab’s Counter Intelligence wing. IGP Ashish Chaudhary supervised it and SP Bikramjit Singh Brar led the team. Special DGP (AGTF) Promod Ban and Special DGP (Counter Intelligence) Amit Prasad coordinated with central agencies.

Police got an INTERPOL Red Notice issued against him, sent seven separate INTERPOL references and worked with the Ministry of External Affairs to follow him from country to country. The operation is part of Gangstran Te Vaar, the state’s campaign against gangsters.

Police said they expect his questioning to show who funded his time on the run and which network supplied his fake documents.