Singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Punjab's Mansa district a day after the state government curtailed his security cover. Gangster Goldy Brar took responsibility for the shooting. (Express photo)The preliminary interrogation of an accused, Kapil Pandit, in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case has revealed that Pandit was approached by Canada-based fugitive Goldy Brar through gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra to target Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the police said.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh Sunday, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said that Santosh Jadhav, who was arrested in Maharashtra in Moosewala murder case, and another accused in the case, Sachin Bishnoi, who has been detained in Azerbaijan, were also part of the module to allegedly target Salman Khan.
“They had done an elaborate recce and they spent a lot of time in Mumbai and we will also verify this angle in the investigation,” said Yadav. The DGP said the disclosures on targeting Salman Khan were “preliminary and yet to be corroborated”.
He added, “If required, we will send a team to Mumbai.”
Kapil Pandit was brought to Punjab along with the sixth shooter in the Moosewala murder case, Deepak Mundi, and another accused Rajinder Joker Saturday night after their arrest by the Punjab police from Panitanki check post in Darjeeling district of West Bengal on India-Nepal border, in a joint operation with Central agencies and the Delhi police.
The DGP said with the three arrests, a total of 23 accused had been arrested in Sidhu Moosewala murder case, out of total 35 named in the case. Two of the shooters Manpreet Singh and Jagroop Singh Roopa were killed in a ‘live encounter’ with the Punjab police.
The special cell of the Delhi police had arrested three shooters – Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sersa. The Punjab DGP said while Mundi was part of the module involving Fauji, Kashish and Sersa, the two who were neutralized and were in a separate vehicle at the time of Moosewala’s killing were arranged by gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.
The DGP said Rajinder Joker was already stationed in Nepal and was in touch with Goldy Brar, “the mastermind of the murder who was also the mastermind of their escape plan”. The DGP added that Mundi and Kapil were together and kept shifting their base, traversing through Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar before they reached West Bengal.
“They were promised that they would be made to settle in Dubai through Nepal on fake passports, either through land route passing through Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand or, if fake passports were delivered to them, through a flight to Dubai from Kathmandu,” said the DGP.
The DGP said the police carried out the investigation in a scientific manner. “We are committed to ensuring justice in the Shubhdeep (Sidhu Moosewala) case. Our endeavour would be to make a water-tight case to get all the accused convicted,” added Yadav.
The DGP said Priyavrat was identified through CCTV footage and the first major breakthrough came when the accused Manpreet Bhau and Manpreet Manna who arranged for the car were arrested. Then on May 31, the police brought Saraj Mintoo from jail on production remand. “We carried out a scientific investigation,” he added.
The DGP said efforts were on to get the accused who were abroad extradited and a red corner notice has been issued against Goldy Brar.
The DGP said there was a “strong political will” to nab the accused involved in the case and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “used to do monitoring of the case after every two weeks. There was a strong political will to establish rule of law by ensuring justice.”
He said while Goldy Brar was the lynchpin in Moosewala murder case, there were many other layers and that apart from the shooters, the police had arrested all involved including those who provided shelter, logistics support and funds for the crime and the role of each accused had been specified.
Responding to a question on Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh levelling allegations against some other persons, Yadav said those persons have been named as accused and further investigations were on.
Responding to a query, DGP Yadav said: “Ninety-five per cent RDX delivery is still through the Punjab border.” He said the sea route and Jammu and Kashmir border were being used to smuggle heroin into India.
The DGP also said that RDX was making its way to Punjab through drones. “It was in August 2019 that drone delivery started,” said the DGP, adding that as compared to around 80 sorties last year, there were around 125 drone sorties to Punjab from the Pakistan side this year, registering an increase of about 50 per cent. He said there were “targeted delivery zones”.
The DGP was, however, all praise for the Border Security Force (BSF). “It is because of BSF strictness that delivery through drones started… Earlier, the riverine border crossing was [the route taken for smuggling]. It is a cat and mouse game,” the DGP said.
The DGP said after Shingar Cinema blast, terrorist elements were not getting recruits, but a nexus of terrorists-gangsters came to the fore after Nabha jail break. “Punjab youth is not associated with terrorism ideology. It was at the time of Nabha jailbreak that terrorist-gangster nexus came to the light for the first time.”
The DGP said gangsters were being used as “cannon fodder” by an agency of other country for carrying out terrorist activities in India.