Sidhu Moosewala murder: 4 shooters identified; fuel receipt from abandoned vehicle helps Punjab police uncover trail of attackers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 16

Punjab police on Thursday announced they have identified four shooters in singer Sidhu Moosewala’s killing case.

The culprits have been identified as Priyawarat of Sonepat, his associate Ankit, Manu Kusa of Moga and Jagroop Roopa of Amritsar.

However, the alleged assailants are yet to be arrested. Raids are going on at different places to nab them. 

Renowned Punjabi Singer Shubhdeep Singh, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was killed by unidentified shooters in Jawaharke village of Mansa district on May 29. Sidhu was driving his Thar with Gurwinder Singh (neighbour) and Gurpreet Singh (cousin) beside him in the car.

HOW EVENTS UNFOLDED

One of the important leads was the recovery of a fuel receipt (dated May 25) of the Fatehabad-based petrol pump from the Bolero car, which was used in the crime and later found abandoned near Khayala village, 13 km from the place of crime, said the ADGP AGTF, while adding that a Police team was immediately dispatched to the petrol station of Fatehabad to gather the CCTV footage on same day.

“The Police teams have procured CCTV footage and managed to identify one of the persons, possibly a shooter, who was later identified as Priyawarat of Sonepat. The CCTV footage was also procured from the route taken by the Bolero before and after the filling of the diesel at the petrol pump,” he said.

Similarly, the ownership of the Bolero was traced with the help of engine number and chassis number, he added.

Pertinently, the Police have recovered all the vehicles, including Mahindra Bolero, Toyota Corolla and a white Alto car used in the crime. The assailants in Toyota Corolla had stopped and snatched a white Alto car at gunpoint, leaving behind the Corolla, which got damaged during the incident, and escaped towards Khara Barnala village followed by the white Bolero car. The white Alto was also found abandoned at 3.30 am on May 30 near Dharamkot in Moga district and the route taken by the accused was identified from the CCTV footage.

ROLE OF ARRESTED PERSONS

Apart from arresting gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was brought on production warrant from Delhi's Tihar Jail, the other nine arrested accused have been identified as Charanjit Singh alias Chetan of Ballram Nagar in Bathinda; Sandeep Singh alias Kekda of Sirsa, Haryana; Manpreet Singh alias Manna of Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda; Manpreet Bhau of Dhaipai, Faridkot; Saraj Mintu of village Dode Kalsia, Amritsar; Prabhdeep Sidhu alias Pabbi of Takhat-Mall, Haryana; Monu Dagar of village Rewli in Sonipat, Haryana; Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb, both residents of Fatehabad, Haryana. All have been arrested for hatching conspiracy, providing logistic support, conducting recce and harbouring the shooters.

The ADGP said the registration number of the Corolla car was found to be genuine and the owner was identified, however, the person on whose name an affidavit of purchase was recovered was not the actual owner but had given his Aadhaar Card to Manpreet Manna (gangster linked to Goldy Brar), who is lodged in Ferozepur Jail.

Manpreet Bhau, who was arrested from Chamoli in Uttarakhand on May 30 on suspicion of Corolla car was being used by him, revealed during interrogation that he had delivered the car to two suspected shooters identified as Manu Kusa of Moga and Jagroop Singh alias Roopa of Amritsar on the directions of Manpreet Manna. He also revealed that the shooters were provided by Saraj Mintu, who is a close aide of Goldy Brar and Sachin Thapan and is believed to be a part of the group of shooters.

Prabhdeep Sidhu alias Pabbi, who was arrested on June 3, told in his interrogation that he had provided shelter to two associates of Goldy Brar, who had come and stayed with him and he helped them to conduct recce of Sidhu Moosewala’s house. He has also visited the house and interacted with the security and checked the cameras etc, it is revealed.

Following reliable input, Monu Dagar, a close associate of Goldy Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi was brought on a production warrant. During interrogation, he confessed to having arranged two shooters identified as Priyawarat and Ankit both residents of Sonipat on the directions of Goldy Brar. He also disclosed that Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb both residents of Fatehabad had procured the white Bolero Jeep used in the incident from Sadul Shaher and further handed over to the shooters through a person identified as Keshav of Bathinda and had also provided them hideout.

Sandeep Kekda, who was arrested on June 6, 2022, during questioning revealed that his brother Bittu of Kalianwali along with Nikku Takhat Mal of Sirsa in Haryana had been conducting a recce of the movements of Moosewala. He revealed that on May 29, 2022, his brother Bittu had tasked him to accompany Nikku on his motorcycle to visit the house of Moosewala posing as his fans. He confessed that they took selfie with the singer on Nikku’s mobile phone and the latter made a video call to Sachin Thapan to inform him about the real-time information about Moosewala that he had left his house without security and sitting on the driver’s seat in the Black Thar Jeep.

The investigation so far has revealed that the arrested accused were acting on the directions of Lawrance Bishnoi and Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, Sachin Thapan, Anmol Bishnoi and Vikram Brar (now in Dubai). Further, these gangsters had bluntly claimed responsibility for the murder through Facebook profiles. Lawrance Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and others have been named as accused and conspirators in this case along with their gang members.

Meanwhile, the AGTF and SIT are working in close coordination with central agencies and other states’ police to identify and arrest the suspected shooters and others involved at the earliest.

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