A sixth shooter allegedly involved in the killing of Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moosewala has been arrested.
The Punjab Police on Saturday said it has arrested the sixth and last shooter allegedly involved in singer Sidhu Moosewala's murder, identified as Deepak alias Mundi.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had earlier arrested three shooters and the Punjab Police had killed two others in an encounter in a village in Amritsar district.
Deepak alias Mundi, who managed to hoodwink the police so far, was caught along with two of his associates from the West Bengal-Nepal border in a joint operation with central agencies, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Jawahar Ke village in Punjab's Mansa district on May 29. He was travelling in a Thar car along with a cousin and a friend.
Police had identified six shooters who formed two modules to kill Moosewala. Of these, Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sersa were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police while Manpreet Singh and Jagrup Singh Roopa were killed by the Punjab Police.
It was initially said that the killing was a result of the fallout of an inter-gang rivalry. Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh had also said that his son had received threat from gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and other gangsters.
Singh said in his police complaint at the time that when he was following his son in his car, he saw a Corrola car with four occupants trailing Moosewala's car in Jawahar Ke village. A second car —a Bolero— stopped in front of Moosewala's Thar when he took a turn towards village Barnala, as per the FIR the police registered based on Singh's complaint. The occupants of Corolla and Bolero started indiscriminate firing at Moosewala and later fled, according to Singh.
Following the killing, Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility of Moosewala's murder in a social media post, as per an IANS report.
What's the inter-gang rivalry?
Mansa Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Toora earlier said the name of Moosewala's manager Shaganpreet had cropped up in the murder case of youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera last year. Shagunpreet had then fled to Australia.
Middukhera's killing was mentioned by Brar in the post claiming the responsibility for the killing. The post read, "Today, Moosewala was killed in Punjab, I, Sachin Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi take the responsibility. It's our work. Moosewala's name surfaced in our brother Vikramjit Singh Middukhera and Gurlal Brar's murder, but the Punjab Police did not take any action against him. We also came to know that Moosewala was also involved in the encounter of our associate Ankit Bhadu."
The Bishnoi-Brar faction also believed Moosewala was on the side of their rival Bambiha gang. Moosewala had also sung a song that appeared to be praising Bambiha gang.
Outlook earlier reported, "According to investigative agencies, the gangsters who killed the 28-year-old singer [Moosewala] did so as a matter of prestige. They say the slain singer, through his song Bambiha Bole (2020), not just challenged their gang members, but also glorified their rival Bambiha gang."
Bishnoi also mentioned this in his statement, according to a report.
"He [Moosewala] provoked us through his song and extolled the Bambiha gang. He dared us to attack him. We let him off initially, following the intervention of Harvinder Rinda (gangster-turned-terrorist). But something had to be done after Vikramjit Singh Middukhera," The Tribune quoted Bishnoi as saying.
(With PTI inputs)
