The Punjab Police has brought back 17 gangsters from foreign countries in the past six months, Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said on Monday, claiming the Bhagwant Mann government had sent out a message that no criminal could escape the law by fleeing abroad.Addressing a press conference, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said the returns were part of the ‘Gangstran Te Vaar’ campaign. Between January 20 and November 7, police conducted 1,61,266 raids and arrested around 2,162 proclaimed offenders.“The Punjab Police has successfully brought several gangsters back to India from different countries,” Cheema said. Among those brought back are Ramanjit Singh Romi from Hong Kong, Amrit Singh from the Maldives, Prabhpreet Singh from Germany, Parminder Singh Pindi from the UAE, Sajjan Mahesh and Sukhdev Kumar alias Manish Baidi from Indonesia, Ajay Singh, Pawandeep Singh and Jaspreet Singh from Malaysia and Karmbir Singh Deol from Canada.“These operations demonstrate the determination and capabilities of our police force in pursuing criminals beyond geographical boundaries,” he said.Cheema alleged that gangsters were “created and nurtured during the Akali-BJP rule and allowed to flourish under the Congress”. The present government, he said, was determined to rid the state of them.He added that the government would build strong cases against those brought back. “Our government will present strong evidence against these criminals in courts and ensure that they receive appropriate punishment,” he said. “Our objective is clear: to make Punjab a gangster-free state.”