Sidhu Moosewala killing: No mention of any singer; names of 2 music studio owners added to FIR

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Mansa, August 27

The chargesheet filed by the Punjab Police in a Mansa court in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case yesterday failed to specify the role of any Punjabi singer in the killing, as was being speculated initially.

Mankirt alleged threat

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• Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh faced the heat on social media days after Moosewala’s killing
• Alleging threats, he had sought that his security be increased
• Davinder Bambiha gang had vowed to avenge the murder

Days after the rapper-turned-politician’s gruesome murder, Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh had faced the heat on social media. He had demanded the Punjab Police to increase his security after allegedly receiving threats from the Davinder Bambiha gang that had vowed to avenge Moosewala’s death.

The Mansa police yesterday, however, booked Moosewala’s old associates Kanwarpal Grewal and Jyoti Pandher while suspecting their involvement in the killing. While Kanwarpal runs a music studio named ‘Folk Mafia’, Jyoti is the owner of ‘Jatt Life Studios’. The police would conduct an investigation against the duo before filing a supplementary chargesheet, said an official.

FIR named 36 accused

20 arrested, 8 absconding, 4 hiding abroad, two killed in police encounter & 2 let off after probe

three Masterminds

Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria

6 shooters: Ankit Sersa, Fauji (Haryana module head), Kashish; Jagroop Roopa & Manpreet Manu Kusa (both killed in encounter) and Deepak Mundi (on the run)

In the 1,850-page chargesheet filed yesterday, the police said the motive behind the murder was to avenge the killing of Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera in Mohali last year. Middukhera was an associate of arrested gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been named a mastermind in the case.

The name of one Shaganpreet, who was seen close to Moosewala, had cropped up in the Middukhera murder case as it was alleged that he sheltered the (Middukhera’s) killers. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang had suspected that Moosewala too was involved in the murder.

According to information, the plan to kill Moosewala was hatched through a network of gangsters lodged in various jails over several months, but the masterminds issued the “kill order” the day (May 28) the singer’s security was pruned by the Punjab Government. He was shot dead at Jawaharke village in Mansa on May 29. Sources said Lawrence Bishnoi, the main conspirator, confessed to the police that they plotted the killing in August 2021.

Talking to The Tribune, Mansa SSP Gaurav Toora said, “The motive behind the murder was to avenge Middukhera’s killing as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang suspected Moosewala role in it.”