Year after Moose Wala’s killing, justice is his parents only mission

Bathinda: Charan Kaur shudders at the thought of what transpired on the evening of May 29, 2022. “We could never have imagined that it would turn out to be my son’s last ride,” says Charan, whose only son, singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu aka Sidhu Moose Wala, was gunned down in Jawahkre village of Mansa district, a 10-minute drive from his home in Moosa village.
In the last one year, grief for Charan and her husband, Balkaur Singh, has only grown. “We are learning to live with his memories and have only one mission in life: to get justice for our son,” she adds.
At the time of his death, Moose Wala had reached the peak of his singing career, having released one chartbuster after another. After his passing away, his songs — a lot like that of his idol, American rapper late Tupac Shakur — have only grown in popularity. His song ‘295’, a track on religious fundamentalism and controversies created over his songs, made it to the Billboard Global 200.
Three songs released posthumously too have gotten millions of views.
Moose Wala’s death, a lot like his singing which came under criticism for promoting gun culture, was mired in controversy. The fact that it happened soon after information was leaked that government security provided to Moose Wala had been curtailed, only made the entire episode murkier.
He was headed for his aunt’s house in Barnala, along with two friends from his village, when two cards waylaid him and men from them alighted and fired multiple shots at him, with one of the assailants using an assault rifle. Moose Wala was primarily known for working hard and continuously releasing songs without a break. However, their content, which promoted caste pride and gun culture, had attracted many critics too. There were also rumours of his having links with gangsters, a claim that is vehemently denied by his family. Balkaur has time and again reiterated that his son had gotten his achievements through hard work. In July last year, he had told TOI that gangsters were running a parallel government in Punjab. “My son only became their victim,” he said.
29 ARRESTS LATER, PROBE STILL ON
The investigation into the killing of Sidhu Moose Wala is a year old, but it is still continuing. Though a main charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet have been filed in the Mansa court, the probe is yet to end. In all, 29 persons have been arrested and two killed, while gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar being named masterminds.
Lawrence is under police custody, but other accused, including Brar, Anmol Bishnoi, Sachin Thapan and Lipin Nehra are out of police reach and are suspected to be residing abroad. Mansa SSP Nanak Singh said the case is still being investigated.