The 13 dreaded gangsters of Punjab

[Premi5]

15 minutes ago, MisterrSingh said:

The eyes are the windows of the soul. It's not the dark pigmentation beneath the eyes that's the issue; that's usually a genetic thing for certain South East Asian people due to deficiencies in diet, etc. It's what's BEHIND the eyes. These are stone cold killers. They wouldn't give a second thought to slitting your throat or putting a bullet in your head if you were a problem for them. Don't offer up any excuses for why they might be the "heroes" of this particular narrative. They aren't Robin Hood figures by any stretch of the imagination. That's a huge cope on your part. Sikhs aren't misunderstood rogues with hearts  of gold. Jesus, that's the kind of reasoning some western women delude themselves with when they fall in love with imprisoned serial killers, lol.

Without knowing the stories in full, you don't know what lead them to live that type of life. Most men don't choose it. They possibly had some issues growing up like parent bereavement or not able to find jobs. 

[Premi5]

This is one example of a British Punjabi who had difficulties in adolescence and his family didn't support him going to art college

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/meet-king-karachi-international-drug-18688081

Meet the 'King of Karachi' - from international drug smuggler to a life of reform

Gurchettan 'Chet' Sandhu climbed the ranks of some of the most sinister gang networks

 

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By

Naomi de SouzaCommunity Reporter

• 12:21, 31 JUL 2020
• UPDATED13:04, 31 JUL 2020

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Meet the self titled 'King of Karachi' - a former kingpin of the UK's murky criminal underworld.

 

Gurchettan 'Chet' Sandhu - originally from Newcastle - lived a life of luxury and hedonism until his drug smuggling empire came crashing down around him.

 

It was then he was sent to one of Europe's most notorious prisons in Spain, where violence and turf wars were rife.

Despite his return to the UK and attempts at a clean slate, Chet went back to his old life and was charged for further crimes.

During a trial which was covered by our sister title in Newcastle, The Chronicle, Chet pleaded guilty to prostitution and blackmail offences and was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Following his release it appears that Chet embarked on the the road to redemption, and ahead of his summer book tour, he filled CoventryLive in on his dark past.

 

Chet Sandhu has been imprisoned twice for drug and prostitution offences

Speaking to us on the phone from his home in Washington, Tyne and Wear, Chet told us of a surprising ambition from his youth; "I wanted to to go to art college, I wanted to be a graphic artist."

Born in Hitchin, the child of immigrants from Punjab, Chet and his family moved up north to Washington when he was a boy so the family could run their shop.

"I wanted to go to art college but my Dad wanted me as another full time member of the shop, so I did that until I was 21. I was held back, and that's why I went into that sort of life of crime. The things I was good at I wasn't allowed to do, I was hindered like that."

He then moved on to new pastures, "I then got my own clothes shop in Newcastle town centre called Substance, that was high fashion. I was the first person there to sell Vivienne Westwood, I used to go to fashion shows in Milan, Paris. I had it until I was in my mid twenties, but it was a bit ahead of its time for Newcastle."

It was after this Chet said his life took a turn for the worse, when he started working the doors as a bouncer in some of Newcastle's well-known nightspots.

It was through these connections made on the 90s club scene he was introduced to steroids - and the people who could supply them.

"I enjoyed that life, it was a thrill. I didn't want a normal job after that, this way I was making money and money was the objective. I was making good money. I figured the best way to do [drug deals] was to import them into the country" he said.

This is what took his drugs operation global, as he used circuitous methods to ship steroids from Pakistan through Europe and back to UK streets.

And this was how the 'King of Karachi' title came to be. Chet said: "Taxi drivers at Karachi airport used to fight over who would take me around on jobs, so it came from them. Because Karachi is a strict Muslim city, when I used to go [we used to go out drinking and partying] so they would fight over me. They said to me that I was the King of Karachi, because I had the chief of police and narcotics officer paid off."

And what about his family, immigrants who came from the Punjab to build a life? "My family did know about it, they knew what I was doing and they told me to stop, but I was making money and they left me alone with it. They did tell me not to go to Pakistan because I'm a Sikh boy, the Taliban would kidnap me. But that didn't put me off, it didn't deter me and I wanted to take it to the highest level. I went [between the UK and] Pakistan from 1996 to 1999."

However by 1999, after Interpol had close eyes on him for some time, the game was up and Chet was arrested at Alicante airport as he disembarked a flight from Karachi. He said: "Interpol were tracking me, tracking my flights. I was sentenced to four and a half years but did three in Spain."

He returned to the UK in 2002, and spent a year on the outside but soon turned back to his old life. "I just got involved again, I should have learnt my lesson."

 

[MisterrSingh]

14 minutes ago, Premi5 said:

Without knowing the stories in full, you don't know what lead them to live that type of life. Most men don't choose it. They possibly had some issues growing up like parent bereavement or not able to find jobs. 

You're pushing the romanticism angle again, lol. Would you be so forgiving if they were Jamaicans or Pakistanis?

[Premi5]

17 minutes ago, MisterrSingh said:

You're pushing the romanticism angle again, lol. Would you be so forgiving if they were Jamaicans or Pakistanis?

A lot of Jamaicans grow up in households without a father or they grow up in difficult inner city background.

[MisterrSingh]

42 minutes ago, Premi5 said:

A lot of Jamaicans grow up in households without a father or they grow up in difficult inner city background.

Why are Canadian Sikhs running or joining organised crime gangs when they're raised in a family-oriented culture and environment, living with both parents, AND, in some cases, knowing nothing but the middle-class suburbs?

Why are you so desperate to believe that Sikhs cannot knowingly be the "bad guys"? Why do there always have to be extenuating circumstances?

[Ranjeet01]

14 hours ago, PuzzledToo said:

They forgot to add this feared gangster

OMG look at his crime spree in Punjab

https://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/punjabi-singer-sidhu-moose-wala-caught-driving-with-tinted-windows-let-off-with-a-challan/story-0pdjmiIK9n0fqXa9pQqqIK.html

A lot of these guys are associated with gangsters.

I have heard of a few stories where up and coming singers and their families have had to go into hiding as they were being extorted. 

Wouldn't be surprised if these gangsters own some of the production companies or fund the burgeoning Punjab film scene. 

[Ranjeet01]

12 hours ago, Premi5 said:

Punjab is seemingly more corrupt and with less opportunities for the average person. 

Would not be surprised if some of them are 'okay' but just got pushed into that type of life

The only type of other people that develop the blank soulless stare are war veterans.

It is called the thousand yard stare. It happens as a result of PTSD.

An environment like Punjab is quite machiavellian and there is probably a lot of psychological warfare going on that the side affect is some kind of trauma. 

[GurjantGnostic]

Seven of them held court in the streets, which is impressive, and one isn't really a criminal. 

[Ranjeet01]

16 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

The eyes are the windows of the soul. It's not the dark pigmentation beneath the eyes that's the issue; that's usually a genetic thing for certain South East Asian people due to deficiencies in diet, etc. It's what's BEHIND the eyes. These are stone cold killers. They wouldn't give a second thought to slitting your throat or putting a bullet in your head if you were a problem for them. Don't offer up any excuses for why they might be the "heroes" of this particular narrative. They aren't Robin Hood figures by any stretch of the imagination. That's a huge cope on your part. Sikhs aren't misunderstood rogues with hearts  of gold. Jesus, that's the kind of reasoning some western women delude themselves with when they fall in love with imprisoned serial killers, lol.

Physiognomy is real. You can judge at a book by it's cover.

These types have no remorse of anything they do. And if they are confronted by the bad actions they did, they will find some justification for it and make it look like their victim's fault.

[MisterrSingh]

8 minutes ago, Ranjeet01 said:

Physiognomy is real. You can judge at a book by it's cover.

These types have no remorse of anything they do. And if they are confronted by the bad actions they did, they will find some justification for it and make it look like their victim's fault.

Being detached from reality is quite terrifying. The one who brings the bad tidings is the villain (for daring to shatter the illusion), not the villain himself, lmao.