Year on, Moose Wala murder keeps political pot boiling in Punjab - Hindustan Times
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Year on, Moose Wala murder keeps political pot boiling in Punjab

By, Faridkot/mansa
May 29, 2023 12:29 AM IST

A year after singer-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was killed, the Punjabi music icon not only continues to live in his fans’ hearts but his murder has also kept the political pot boiling in Punjab

A year after singer-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was killed, the Punjabi music icon not only continues to live in his fans’ hearts but his murder has also kept the political pot boiling in Punjab.

The singer was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29 last year. (HT Photo)
The singer was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29 last year. (HT Photo)

The singer was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29 last year. Ten months went into planning the murder after a failed attempt during the 2022 assembly polls, the police said. Gangsters lodged in Punjab jails and those living abroad hatched a plan and it was for the first time they used an AK-47 assault rifle.

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Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility for the murder terming it a revenge for the killing of Youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera, who was shot dead in Mohali in 2021.

Shooters had been tailing Moose Wala in Mansa district for a few days and got a go-ahead from Brar after the gangster was informed by his men that the singer had left in a jeep instead of his bulletproof SUV and that too without security guards.

The police identified the six shooters as Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish, Ankit Sersa and Deepak Mundi of the Haryana module and Manpreet Singh, alias Mannu, and Jagroop Singh, alias Roopa, of the Punjab module.

Political fallout

Moose Wala turned to politics by joining the Congress in December 2021. He unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Punjab assembly elections from Mansa losing to AAP’s Dr Vijay Singla by a huge margin of 63,323 votes.

The Bhagwant Mann government came under fire following the singer’s murder, as it took place a day after the Aam Aadmi Party government curtailed his security cover along with 423 others. The detail of the security withdrawal was shared widely on social media. The public anger following the murder is considered to be one of the factors for the ruling party’s defeat in the 2022 Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll.

Moose Wala’s parents --- father Balkaur Singh and mother Charan Kaur --- have time and again demanded an investigation into the security detail leak but Punjab Police chargesheet has no mention of this.

Recently, the singer’s parents campaigned against the AAP in the Jalandhar bypoll demanding justice for their son and asking people not to vote for the ruling party. However, unlike the Sangrur bypoll, AAP won the election in Jalandhar. The singer’s parents have vowed to continue opposing the AAP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections too.

Delhi cops stole the march

Following the singer’s murder, Delhi Police special cell made significant breakthrough in the case as Punjab cops struggled to identify the shooters.

A day after the murder, Delhi Police special cell took custody of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and a week later, disclosed details about the singer’s murder. Three Haryana module shooters Fauji, Kashish and Sersa were arrested by the Delhi special cell. Later, shooters Mannu and Roopa were tracked down and killed in an encounter with Punjab Police in Amritsar on July 20.

Shooter Deepak Mundi managed to evade the police for over 100 days before being arrested from the West Bengal-Nepal border by Punjab Police with the help of their Delhi counterparts and central agencies.

Punjab Police faced major embarrassment when an accused in the case, Deepak Tinu, fled from the custody of the Mansa Crime Investigation Agency (CIA). He was later arrested by Delhi Police from Ajmer on October 19.

Punjab Police have also failed to trace gangsters Goldy Brar and Lipin Nehra, who are said to be hiding in Canada.

Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi and nephew Sachin Thapan Bishnoi, who were the main lynchpins in the plan, as per cops, and assisted Brar, also fled the country using fake passports. While Sachin was detained in Azerbaijan, Anmol managed to reach the US. Anmol was recently spotted at a wedding reception in Bakersfield, California, along with Punjabi singers Karan Aujla and Sharry Mann.

The singer’s parents have also demanded a probe into the music industry’s links with gangsters. In December, Mansa police questioned a number of Punjabi singers, including Babbu Maan, Mankirt Aulakh, Ajay Pal Singh Middukhera, who is brother of Vicky Middukhera, and music director Nishan Singh. But the chargesheets filed by the special investigation team formed to probe the murder have not indicted anyone from the music industry.

SIT links killing to gang war

The SIT has filed two chargesheets against 31 accused, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, claiming the murder was part of a series of revenge killings between the Bishnoi and Bambiha gangs. The probe team revealed a history of retaliatory killings, with each gang seeking vengeance for its members’ deaths.

The SIT said it started with the killing of Goldy Brar’s cousin Gurlal Brar in Chandigarh in October 2020 by the Bambiha gang. Brar was killed to avenge the murder of the Bambiha gang’s Lavi Deora, who was killed in 2017.

“The Bambiha gang killed Vicky Middukhera and kabbadi player Sandeep Singh Nangal Ambian to avenge the killing of their men. To avenge both the killings, the Bishnoi gang killed Moose Wala,” claimed the SIT.

Mansa senior superintendent of police Nanak Singh said: “We have filed two chargesheets in the court and so far, the probe has revealed that gangster killed Moose Wala for revenge. All the weapons used in the crime have been recovered and ballistics reports have matched, which are part of the chargesheet.”

Gangster nexus in jails

The SIT has admitted that at least eight accused lodged in six separate jails of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were in constant touch with each other. The revelation exposed the extent of criminal activities being orchestrated from behind bars.

According to the SIT, Goldy Brar masterminded the killing and coordinated with Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria, shooters and all the other people involved in the crime. He allotted the accused specific tasks, including providing weapons, money, shelter, cars, phones, and SIM cards.

Recently, Bishnoi’s two interviews with a private TV channel while in judicial custody went viral, putting a question mark on the working of Punjab Police and security in jails. Punjab Police has denied that interviews took place in the state jails but has formed a team to probe the matter. The team is yet to file the report.

‘Real killers’ still at large: Balkaur

Singer’s father Balkaur Singh said the murder was not the work of gangsters but of those who would have benefited from Moose Wala’s murder.

“The Punjabi music industry is involved in this. The gangsters are running an extortion gang in collaboration with people from the music industry. We gave evidence against persons, but the police have limited the probe to only gangsters,” he said.

“The recent interviews of Lawrence Bishnoi from inside the jails are an attempt to show his strength so he can put pressure on the witnesses,” he added.

Legacy

Moose Wala went to Canada in 2016 and took just a year to establish himself as a big name in the music industry. With 20.5 million subscribers on YouTube, he is the most subscribed independent Punjabi artiste on the platform.

In 2017, Moose Wala released his first track, ‘So High’, which became a massive hit. Over the course of his career, spanning roughly five years, he released more than 60 singles, and three albums, and collaborated with renowned musicians like Tion Wayne, Bohemia, and Divine. After Mosse Wala’s untimely demise, international rappers and singers, including Drake, paid tribute to Moose Wala, demonstrating that his influence extended beyond language and borders.

Moose Wala’s songs often courted controversy for glorifying guns and bullets. In 2021, he was booked under Arms Act following videos showing him firing an AK-47 rifle and a revolver at firing ranges.

The singer’s village Moosa and the cremation ground have become a memorial for his fans. Poster and T-shirts of Moose Wala dot the shops lined up near the cremation ground. Singer’s statue stands tall behind the glass walls in the middle of his family’s vast fields where his last rites were carried out. A small museum has been created in the backyard, where his vehicles including his bullet-riddled Thar and his favourite HMT 5911 tractor are parked along with his statue.

No charges framed yet

Nine months have passed since the Punjab Police filed a chargesheet in Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, but the court is yet to frame charges against the accused as producing all of them at the same time through videoconferencing is a challenge for the authorities.

To avoid law-and-order issue, police plan to present the accused via videoconferencing. So far, not more than six accused have been produced in the court on the same day.

One of the key accused Lawrence Bishnoi has been presented in the court only once via videoconferencing in 25 hearings.

Of the total of 31 accused, the police arrested 27 but two of them Mandeep Singh and Manmohan Singh were killed during a clash in Goindwal jail Tarn Taran district. Four accused --- Goldy Brar, Lipin Nehra, Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, and his nephew Sachin Bishnoi Thapan are sitting abroad.

Mother breaks down into tears

On the eve of his first death anniversary, Moose Wala’s mother Charan Kaur on Sunday broke down into tears after seeing bullet marks at the spot in Jawahar Ke village where her son was shot dead.

Kaur attended the ‘paath’ organised by the residents of Jawahar Ke village in remembrance of the slain singer.

“These bullet marks remind me of the brutality that my son had faced. A year has passed, but we are still waiting for justice. Our fight for justice will continue till masterminds are punished. His murder was part of a big conspiracy and real conspirators are yet to be unmasked,” Kaur said.

Meanwhile, Moose Wala’s father Balkaur Singh will not join the events at Moosa village on Monday as he is in the United Kingdom to sign some deals for upcoming project of Moose Wala.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Parteek Singh Mahal is a multimedia correspondent based at Faridkot in Punjab. He covers medical education, politics and Punjab police.

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