Justice not complete, says Middukhera's kin
Why was Youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera killed and who ordered his murder? These questions still await answers, even as a Mohali court last week convicted three shooters for the killing.
“Justice has not been fully delivered to us. Yes, the persons who fired the fatal gunshots at my brother have been convicted, but who sent them and what was the motive behind the crime is still not known,” said Middukhera’s elder brother Ajay Pal Singh.
Panjab University student leader Vicky Middukhera was allegedly close to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. He was murdered in Mohali on August 7, 2021. The court awarded life imprisonment to three shooters, Ajay, alias Sunny, alias Lefty; Sajjan, alias Bholu; and Anil Lath.
Gangsters Bhupinder, alias Bhupi Rana, Kaushal Chaudhary and Amit Dagar were acquitted for lack of evidence. According to the prosecution, these three, who were behind bars in different jails, were part of the conspiracy. They arranged shooters and provided logistical support to Shaganpreet Singh, singer Sidhu Moosewala’s assistant music director who was the main conspirator. Prosecution claimed the gangsters used phone inside the jail.
Bhupi Rana is alleged to have provided shooter Lefty, while Kaushal Chaudhary is alleged to have deployed Sajjan, alias Bholu, and Amit Dagar is alleged to have provided Anil Lath. However, the prosecution could not prove their involvement in the case despite the shooters having named them in their disclosure statements.
Four others, including Shaganpreet Singh and gangsters Ravinder Chouhan, Saurav Thakur, alias Lucky Patial, Sombir and Dharminder Singh, alias Gagni, are yet to be arrested.
“We are thankful to the police and the judiciary for the investigation and the swift trial, but we feel it’s incomplete. The three shooters were clearly sent by someone and the police investigation named the gangsters, but this could not be proved in the court,” said Ajay.
“Worse, the court trial could not pinpoint the motive behind the murder. We are moving the High Court for the purpose,” he added. Even the court order said justice was not complete in the case and asked the police to investigate.
The judgment noted: “A complete justice cannot be done to the family of the victim without bringing all accused to book. Investigation has been kept pending against them. It should be expedited in right earnest as long time had already lapsed since the date of occurrence.”
On the lack of evidence against the gangsters, the court order said, “Regarding the phone call exchanges between Anil Lath and Gaurav Patial, as well as Shaganpreet Singh and Patial, these fail to implicate the accused—Kaushal Chaudhary, Amit Dagar and Bhupi Rana. This is because the aforementioned individuals were incarcerated in various jails and no evidence has been produced to demonstrate any communication between the hitmen and the accused or any other conspirator.”
Police sources said Shaganpreet Singh knew all secrets about the motive behind the murder. The killing has never been seen in isolation by the police. It has claimed that it was part of rivalry between Lawrence Bishnoi and the Davinder Bambiha gangs. The incident is also crucial in the investigation of Sidhu Moosewala’s murder case, who was killed allegedly by the Bishnoi gang about 10 months after Middukhera’s murder. Lawrence and his gang members claimed they killed Moosewala to avenge Middukhera’s murder.