T’puram: The rural police have stepped up efforts to track the financial networks of gangsters and identify extortion rackets allegedly being operated by gang members, including those currently lodged in jails.According to the police, the investigation is focusing on suspected extortion collections from commercial and industrial establishments as well as groups involved in illegal sand mining. The special branch has gathered inputs suggesting that some gang members are collecting money from businesses in the name of jailed gang leaders.The police are now attempting to establish links between those collecting the money and gang leaders lodged in prisons. The police are also examining the financial transactions and movements of identified gang members as part of efforts to map their wider networks.The move comes as the rural police have begun a more systematic surveillance of people identified as habitual offenders and gang members. Those considered to pose a higher threat are being subjected to preventive action, while gang leaders are being kept under close watch.The scale of the surveillance is significant. The rural police have identified 3,112 people in their goonda and rowdy list, including 173 identified as gangsters and 2,939 as rowdies. Around 30 people on the list are involved in serious crimes such as murder and attempt to murder, according to the police. In the past six months, more than 50 people have been externed from the district, while around 70 others have been barred from entering specified police station limits.The police said the focus is now on disrupting not only the physical presence of gangs but also the financial and organisational networks that allow them to remain active through associates even when their leaders are jailed or externed.
