New Delhi: Wanted in high-profile murders including that of singer Sidhu Moose Wala and for links with the proscribed terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), fugitive gangster Satwinder Singh alias Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar faces over 20 cases in India.
On Monday, the government declared Brar an “individual terrorist” accusing him of “multiple killings” and being “radicalised”. He is also accused of threatening “pro-nationalist leaders demanding ransom and posting the claims of killings on different social media platforms”.
A native of Sri Muktsar Sahib in Punjab, the 29-year-old gangster faces charges of murders, attempted murders, extortions, criminal conspiracy as well as cases under the Arms Act. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also charge-sheeted him in two cases that it has probed.
In May last year, Brar was included in Canada’s most wanted list.
Brar started his journey in the world of crime at 18 years in 2012 but was not as big a figure back then as he has turned out to be in a decade since.
He had four cases but was acquitted in all of them before he left for Canada on a student visa in 2017.
Ever since his departure, Brar started his extortion racket in Punjab and adjoining states but he gained notoriety after the chilling murder of singer-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu famously known as Siddhu Moose Wala on 29 May, 2022.
Brar took the responsibility of the murder and explained his motive behind the high-profile killing that sent ripples across political and police circles in Punjab. ThePrint had reported on how the gang members had run surveillance on Moose Wala and would send updates about the movements via ‘Signal’ to Brar.
In a purported post on Facebook, the gangster claimed responsibility for the killing and added that it was to avenge the killings of his cousin Gurlal Brar and Akali youth leader Vikramjit Singh ‘Vicky’ Middukhera.
Middukhera was shot dead in Mohali in 2021 and the Bambiha gang, run by gangster Lucky Patial from Armenia, claimed the responsibility for Gurlal’s murder in 2020.
Brar’s name also figures in the murder of Pardeep Singh, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower. Singh was an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case and was gunned down in 2022. He is also wanted in the murder of Youth Congress leader Gurlal Singh Bhullar alias Pehalwan.
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Nexus with Bishnoi gang
Brar came in contact with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi through Gurlal Brar, who was former president of Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and after Gurlal‘s killing in 2020, the duo joined hands to eliminate his killers.
The duo hatched conspiracy to kill Pehalwan, who was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants in Faridkot city in 2020. Brar had taken responsibility and explained the motive in a Facebook post.
“With Bishnoi in jail, Brar acts as a handler for the associates and gang members here in India. He manages the finances, logistics and also provides for the arms,” a source in the police establishment said.
For his involvement in the killing of Pehalwan in Faridkot, the Punjab Police managed to get a look out circular and non-bailable warrant issued from a Faridkot court. Later in 2022, the Punjab Police also managed to get a Red Corner Notice issued against him by the Interpol.
According to the NIA’s charge sheet, Brar has “direct links” with BKI leader Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, who has also been declared an individual terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Sources in the police establishment said that Brar runs the nexus and arranges logistical aid on ground through money received in hawala through extortion calls. Last year, a case was lodged against him in Delhi on the basis of a complaint filed by singer Honey Singh. Singh accused Brar of threatening him on call.
Earlier in 2022, Gurugram-based liquor businessman and Pataudi Municipal Committee chairman Chanderban Sehgal accused Brar of sending him threats through calls for 50 percent share in the liquor business. Brar’s name also figured in a Gurugram double murder case of brothers Surjit and Paramjit Thakran.
Police said that the motive was “gang rivalry” and that the victims were “close associates” of the rival Kaushal Chaudhary gang. In an interview with an English daily, Brar had issued threats against actor Salman Khan. “We will kill him, we will definitely kill him” he had said.
‘Clean escape’
Brar had his first brush with the law in 2012 when as an 18-year-old he was booked for a clash between two groups under Section 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.
Three years later, he was booked by the Sri Muktsar Sahib district police on murder charges along with a couple of cases in Fazilka district.
He was booked in a total of four cases, but was acquitted in all of them before he secured a student visa for a one-way trip to Canada. Brar managed to get the visa because there were no cases against him at the time of police verification for the visa, a senior Punjab Police officer told ThePrint.
Two years after his departure, his father Shamsher Singh, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of police (ASI) in Punjab’s Muktsar district, took premature retirement which reportedly was an enforced decision because officers dealing with Brar’s case found him accomplice in his son’s extortion and other crimes.
The same year, the Kotkapura police registered an FIR against Singh for surveying potential targets for his Canada-based son.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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