Sidhu Moosewala killing: Shooters hid in fields, cops failed to detect

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 31

Four of the six shooters in the singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case hid in agricultural fields at Khyala village, not even 10 km away from the crime spot at Jawaharke village in Mansa district, for an hour after the killing, according to the investigation by the Delhi Police and now corroborated by their Punjab counterparts.

Slow response aided escape?

• Punjab Police could not effectively put up checkpoints immediately after the killing
• Areas near the crime spot weren’t promptly combed
• Four of the shooters fled to Haryana after hiding in fields at Khyala village for an hour
• This, despite cops being alerted about suspicious movement
• The Delhi Police later nabbed three of the shooters

Had the Punjab Police or their counterparts in Haryana and Rajasthan, where the shooters fled subsequently, acted promptly, the case could have been solved within hours of the crime on May 29, said a security official. The Delhi Police later nabbed three of the shooters — Priyavrat Fauji, Ankit Sersa and Kashish — in separate operations. Inquiries reveal that the Punjab Police could not effectively seal the borders with Haryana and Rajasthan or set up inter-district and intra-district checkpoints fast enough to intercept the fugitive shooters. Officials involved with the first response, wishing not to be quoted, said police teams were sent to Khyala village after a few villagers informed the police that they had spotted suspicious persons hiding on the outskirts of the village.

However, a majority of the police personnel had to be rushed to the Mansa Civil Hospital where Moosewala’s fans were quite agitated and could have resorted to violence, they said. A large police presence was also needed to secure the crime spot as well as manage the crowd at the singer’s house in Musa village. The shooters had either escaped by the time the police reached, or due to lack of adequate force, the police could not comb the fields properly, the officials said.

Two of the alleged shooters, Jagroop Roopa and Manpreet Manu alias Manu Kusa, fled in a snatched Alto car towards Barnala after committing the crime. Both were killed about 50 days later in a police encounter in Tarn Taran. The others — Priyavrat Fauji, Ankit Sersa, Kashish and Deepak Mundi — sped towards Haryana. They lost their way when they saw a PCR car flashing its beacon behind them. They took a turn towards Khyala village where their Bolero vehicle got stuck on roadside. The shooters hid in a field but the PCR vehicle zoomed past without stopping, it has been learnt. This had come up during the first interrogation of the accused shooters by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and has now been confirmed by the same shooters in their statement to the police, as mentioned in the chargesheet presented before a Mansa court.

The chargesheet says the shooters hid in fields near a link road milestone showing Rala village (Mansa) 9 km away. The chargesheet as well as the Delhi Police investigation stated that Fauji called up Goldy Brar using Signal app. Brar, in turn, called Keshav, who was waiting for them about 3 km from Mansa town. Keshav could have reached the shooters within an hour or so, said sources.

So far, no inquiry has been conducted on the delayed response to erect police barricades and whether the PCR vehicle that saw the Bolero stopped or not? Several mediapersons, who had reached the spot soon after the crime, reported that they did not see many police barricades on the way.

Investigation officer changed

Gurlal Singh has replaced SHO Angrez Singh as the investigation officer in the Moosewala case. Angrez, who was receiving threats from gangsters, has been shifted to the Budhlada police station. Mansa SSP Gaurav Toora called it a ‘routine transfer’.

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