Kala Kachcha gang (also known as Kale-Kachchewale or Kale Kachche gang) refers to certain organized criminal
gangs
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
in
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The Kala Kachcha gang members are robbers and
dacoit
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...
s, who don police uniform or 'Kale Kachche' (black underpants)
to evade detection. They put grease on their body as lubricant.
There are many such gangs suspected to be active in Punjab. They usually target families living at isolated places in the countryside and always thrash their victims before robbing them. In 2014, the Mohali police busted one such gang who allegedly carried out a spate of dacoities in the district in June and July. Twelve of them were arrested while planning another dacoity in an abandoned factory.
Incidents
* In May 2007, the members of the gang attacked a family in Ladhowal. They beat up the family members, raped two of them, and decamped with gold jewellery.
* In June 2007, the gang members killed a farmer, and snatched jewelry from his wife after hitting her.
* In December 2002, the Government ordered judicial probe into the gruesome murder of retired
Deputy Superintendent of Police, Pritam Singh, his wife and daughter by Kala Kachcha gang dacoits on the intervening night of 2 and 3 December 2002.
* On 3 October 2002, suspected kale-kachchewale gang members attacked and robbed a veterinary doctor and his two family members in
Moga.
* The Punjab Government gave Rs 20,000 to Savitri Devi, whose husband, Ram Chand, was killed with an encounter with the gang at Lachkani village.
* On 24 March 2000, the police busted a kale-kachchewale gang involved in several robberies in
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
,
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur () is a city and a municipal corporation in Hoshiarpur district in the Doaba region of the Indian state of Punjab. It was founded, according to tradition, during the early part of the fourteenth century. In 1809, it was occupied b ...
,
Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...
and
Amritsar.
* On 15 October 1999, the members of a Kala Kachcha gang killed two persons, raped a woman and robbed cash and valuables from a few houses. They were sentenced to
life imprisonment on 29 April 2007.
* December 2006, the gang attacked a youth in
Bathinda
Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...
to
extort
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...
funds. The youth was left for dead and only later admitted to hospital.
See also
*
Chaddi Baniyan gang
References
Organised crime groups in India
Crime in Punjab, India
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