Punjab Police on Saturday conducted raids at suspected hideouts of those linked with gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla, an official said.

The simultaneous raids were conducted at the residential and other premises linked to Dalla of Dalla village in Moga as well as other districts of Punjab.

The operation was aimed at disrupting the nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers based in India and abroad, Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said.

He said Saturday's searches were planned after the questioning of several persons in the recently busted modules backed by Arsh Dalla. Another aim was to infuse fear among the anti-social elements and instil a sense of safety and security among the common people.

During the operation, as many as 192 Police parties searched the premises of at least 232 persons linked with Arsh Dalla.

DGP said in a statement that several persons have been detained for further verification and incriminating material has been seized from their possession, which is being further examined.

During the searches, arms licences were checked, sourcing of ammunition was ascertained, data from electronic devices, travel details of foreign-based family members, bank transactions from abroad and property details were collected for further examination, he said.

According to Police, Canada-based Dalla is a most wanted criminal by the Punjab Police for his involvement in various criminal activities in Punjab and abroad.

He is a Category-A gangster turned terrorist and is a KTF operative, which is a banned terrorist organisation. In the year 2020, after murdering one of his associates Sukkha Lamme, he escaped to Canada, said police.

"Sitting in Canada, he runs a network of gangsters involved in extortion, killings and other terror crimes in Punjab. He has been indulging in these crimes in association with his other associates based out in Manila, Malaysia, Canada and Pakistan," the police said, as per the statement.

There are as many as 35 FIRs pertaining to murder, looting, dacoity, extortions, ransom and spreading terror, registered against him.

His involvement had also emerged in various targeted killings that took place in the border state of Punjab, besides, in cases of supplying militant hardware including RDX, IEDs, AK-47 and other arms and ammunition to modules in the state after getting them imported or dropped by drones from Pakistan, it said.

DGP said the process is already on to extradite Dalla from Canada and soon, he will be brought to India.

Red Corner Notice against Arsh Dalla has already been issued and is being followed up vigorously, he added.