Punjab drug kingpin’s mansion torn down in Ludhiana district’s Payal area.

Ludhiana: A former sarpanch facing 10 cases of drug trafficking watched his 1.4-acre luxury estate get demolished in a sweeping state crackdown as law enforcement shifts toward stripping cartels of their narco-profits.

A heavy police contingent and demolition crews flattened the compound owned by Gurdeep Singh Rano, who is accused of funding the sprawling property through illicit drug profits. The joint operation between the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada) and the Khanna police targeted Gurdeep’s native village of Rano in the Payal subdivision.

District town planner Pradeep Kumar said the demolition crew had torn down unauthorised structures spanning a significant portion of the estate. The action followed direct Punjab govt’s guidelines to dismantle the physical and financial infrastructure of suspected drug cartels.

A Shifting Strategy

Gurdeep has been under the law enforcement scanner since 2020, when the state’s Special Task Force arrested him following the seizure of 5 kg heroin. The 10 criminal cases he faces involve drug trafficking and other serious offences.

Payal’s deputy superintendent of police, Harmanpreet Singh Cheema, said the demolition reflected a tactical shift by law enforcement to hit smugglers financially. Instead of relying solely on arrests, authorities are now systematically identifying and destroying high-value real estate suspected of being built on narco-profits.

Zero-Tolerance Mandate

Khanna’s senior superintendent of police, Darpan Ahluwalia, said: “The enforcement drive complies with directives from Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and director general of police Gaurav Yadav to eradicate drug trade aggressively. Ahluwalia said the state’s campaign against the illegally acquired assets of drug smugglers will be intensified in the coming weeks.