New Delhi: The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested two alleged shooters and an “associate” in connection with the murder of Congress leader and singer Sidhu Moose Wala in Punjab last month. The Special Cell has identified a total of six alleged shooters.
The three arrested are the “main shooter”, Priyavrat alias Fauji, who was allegedly in touch with Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar; another “shooter”, Kashish alias Kuldeep; and their “associate”, Keshav Kumar, who allegedly received them in a car after the murder. All three are wanted or have been arrested in previous murder cases, according to the police.
They were arrested Sunday from near Mundra Port in Gujarat, where they had rented an apartment. Additionally, the police said they had also recovered multiple grenades, sophisticated pistols, and cartridges from a hideout in Hisar.
Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) H.S. Dhaliwal in a press conference said, “All the range teams of the Special Cell worked round the clock to track down the syndicate members”. He added, “We have identified six shooters.” Several alleged members of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar gang were arrested earlier in connection with the case.
“Two modules were involved in the shoot-out who were in touch with Brar. In one car — a [Mahindra] Bolero that Kashish was driving — Ankit Sersa, Deepak Munde and Priyavrat were travelling. In the other car, a [Toyota] Corolla, Jagdeep Roopa and Manpreet Mannu were travelling,” Dhaliwal said.
Mannu allegedly fired the first burst of bullets at Moose Wala’s car, hitting him and halting the vehicle. From the other end, the shooters in the Bolero came and shot Moose Wala again. The shooters, police said, fled from the spot in their respective cars after confirming that the singer was dead.
29 year-old Moose Wala was shot dead on 28 May in the village of Jhawahar Ke in Mansa district, while he was on his way to visit a relative, a day after his security was reportedly partially withdrawn by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab. The singer was without his bodyguards and wasn’t travelling in his bulletproof vehicle.
Soon afterwards, Brar purportedly claimed the murder in a Facebook post, calling it revenge for the murders of youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera and Gurlal Brar, his brother.
ThePrint had earlier reported on how the murder was planned for months, and sharpshooter Shahrukh had failed to carry out the task due to the singer’s round-the-clock bodyguards.
The accused
According to the police, Priyavrat alias Fauji, 26, a resident of Sonipat, Haryana, was the main shooter and allegedly led the team that carried out the hit
“He has previously been involved in two murder cases in Sonipat— he was arrested in one in 2015, and is wanted in another one from 2021,” a senior police officer said.
The other alleged shooter, police said, is Kashish alias Kuldeep, 24, a resident of Jhajjar, Haryana.
“He is wanted in a murder case in Jhajjar, Haryana, from 2021,” the officer said.
The two were allegedly spotted in the CCTV footage of the Fatehgarh petrol pump, before the crime took place.
An “associate”, Keshav Kumar, who accompanied them till Mansa district on the day of the incident and allegedly received the shooters after the murder in an Alto car, has also been arrested.
According to the police, Keshav has previously been arrested in a murder case in Bathinda, Punjab in 2020, and is also suspected to be involved in extortion cases in the state.
This report has been updated to reflect the correct name of Ankit Sersa, one of the suspects in the case.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
Also read: ‘Saw him fall to bullets’ — fearing threat, Moosewala’s father followed him with guards, says FIR