Punjab cops get gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's transit remand, head back

DELHI/MANSA: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted one-day transit remand of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to Punjab Police and allowed them to take him to Mansa under tight security for producing before court in the Sidhu Moose Wala killing case. Congress leader and Punjabi singer Moose Wala was killed on the evening of May 29 at Jawaharke village near Mansa when he was driving his Mahindra Thar with two others.
They team left for Punjab in a bulletproof vehicle in the evening, with around 50 police personnel in over a dozen vehicles following it to avoid any untoward incident. Before leaving Delhi, Bishnoi was taken for a medical examination.
While stating that the allegations against Bishnoi are grave and serious, metropolitan magistrate Umesh Kumar earlier directed Punjab Police to take all appropriate measures for his safety during the transit till his production before the court in Punjab. Police had sought the remand to produce Bishnoi before the chief judicial magistrate at Mansa, who issued an arrest warrant against him on June 13 in the murder case of the singer-cum-politician.
All routes for moving Bishnoi to be videographed, court told
Advocate Vishal Chopra, appearing for Lawrence Bishnoi , opposed the application, saying there was a threat to the accused’s life and he might not be allowed to be taken to Punjab. He alleged that the accused might be killed in a fake encounter by Punjab Police. His lawyers had demanded that if court allows his transit remand, foolproof security should be arranged and he should be allowed to be taken to Punjab in handcuffs and shackles to avoid any excuse of encounter.
Advocate general of Punjab Anmol Rattan Sidhu submitted that Punjab Police would take full responsibility of Bishnoi’s security if the custody was granted. He said a team of 54 officials, including 38 armed police personnel, had been formed and 10 vehicles, including two bulletproof cars, arranged for the purpose. All routes will be video- graphed, he submitted.
Punjab Police had claimed in its plea that the gangster was the key conspirator behind the murder. It further claimed that the confession statements of the arrested accused pointed out that Bishnoi had tasked the co-accused to carry out the killing.
“The same has been corroborated by the upload on social media wherein Lawrence Bishnoi has taken responsibility for carrying out the planned murder of Sidhu Moose Wala,” Punjab Police alleged. It also claimed that Delhi Police had clearly stated in press conferences that Bishnoi was
the key conspirator in the planned murder of Moose Wala.
The plea stated that nine accused had been arrested and 11 were yet to be caught. The arrested accused also allegedly said they were in touch with Satwinder Singh, a close associate of Bishnoi, Punjab Police claimed, adding that all the arrested accused were closely linked with Bishnoi and his associates, and had been involved together in multiple FIRs.
Bishnoi and Canada based Satinderjit Singh aka Goldy Brar had taken responsibility for the singer’s killing. It was claimed that by eliminating Moose Wala they had avenged the killing of Youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera, who was gunned down in 2021 at Mohali.
In the meanwhile, the Maharashtra police on Monday had arrested shooter Santosh Jadhav and Nagnath Suryavanshi. It is learnt a team from Punjab police has reached Pune to interrogate them.
Bishnoi belongs to Duttarwali village of Fazilka and is facing dozens of cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, extortion in various states.