Pakistan police arrest Sidhu Moosewala’s teenage fan over invite for aerial shooting on singer’s 1st death anniversary

According to police, Sharjil Malik uploaded a poster of Moosewala on his Facebook wall, inviting people to attend the singer’s first death anniversary event at his residence in Okara

Sidhu Moosewala. File photo

PTI

Lahore, May 30

A 15-year-old fan of the slain Indian singer Sidhu Moosewala was briefly arrested in the Punjab province of Pakistan for inviting people via social media for an aerial firing on the Punjabi singer’s first death anniversary, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, Sharjil Malik uploaded a poster of Moosewala on his Facebook wall, inviting people to attend the singer’s first death anniversary event at his residence in Okara, some 130 km from Lahore.

The poster invited people “...to remember the late Punjabi singer and aerial firing will be held in the manner he (Moosewala) used to do.” Moosewala used to eulogise guns in his songs and music videos.

“A neighbour of Malik filed a complaint with the local police informing his plan of holding an event to commemorate Moosewala’s first death anniversary with aerial firing at his residence on May 29,” police officer Aslam Shahid said.

“The complainant also attached a social media post of Malik. Acting on this, police arrested him on Sunday, a day before the event was scheduled,” Shahid said.

He said the young boy was released after he tendered a written apology, and his father gave an undertaking that he (Malik) would not indulge in such activities.

Moosewala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh, was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29 last year. His distinctive style and powerful lyrics captivated audiences across the globe.

Last year, on the singer’s assassination, a banner was displayed in Okara city, condemning his murder and demanding the Indian government to arrest his killers.

The singer-rapper enjoyed a cult following in India and abroad with songs like “So High”, “Same Beef”, “The Last Ride”, “Just Listen” and “295”.

Renowned Pakistani qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan during one of his concerts in the US dedicated the popular qawwali “Akhiyan Udeek Diyan” to Moosewala.