From Mansa to Mundra, shooters changed 58 hideouts in 21 days
NEW DELHI: The two sharpshooters arrested by the Delhi Police special cell for their alleged involvement in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder had changed their hideouts 58 times after the incident in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29, the probe has found.
Suspects Priyavrat Fauji, who has been identified as the main shooter, and Kuldeep, alias Kashish, were arrested in Gujarat on June 20. Two other shooters — Ankit Sirsa and Deepak — were also with them till about two-three days before their arrest, according to police.
During their custodial interrogation, the two have revealed that to give police the slip, they avoided public transport or car while heading to the Mundra port, where they ran out of luck and were arrested from Kharimithi Road at Baroi village of Gujarat’s Kutch district, one of the Delhi Police special cell officers involved in their arrest said.
“They used trucks, bicycles and motorcycles. They even travelled in bullock carts for some stretches in Gujarat. They also kept changing their get-up every day to bluff the police,” the special cell officer said, requesting anonymity. “They preferred to stay in slums or cheaper hotels. They even worked as truck cleaners and waiters in the restaurants to hide their identities.”
Changed locations before murder too
They even frequently changed their locations leading up to the killing. “They were provided small huts separately in deserted fields, around 175km from the place of occurrence. In nine days leading up to the killing, none of the criminals had any information on people who were making arrangements for their food and lodging,” the officer said.
Even the arms and ammunition used in the murder were handed over to the criminals just an hour before the incident, he said. “While two of the shooters — Manpreet Mannu and Jagroop Roopa — preferred to hide in rural areas of Punjab, the other four changed their locations as many as 58 times between their escape journey from Mansa in Punjab to Mundra in Gujarat,” the officer added.
“The communication with the facilitators, supplier of arms and vehicles, recipients and the backup conspirators was so discreet that even the killer didn’t know about the others,” he said. “Everyone was in contact with Canada-based Goldy Brar, who was talking to everyone individually through internet phones.”
After the incident, backup vehicles were ready for the shooters. “But as the Corolla broke down midway, Roopa and Mannu looted an Alto car to escape,” said the officer.
But, after reaching Fatehabad in Haryana, they left their fourwheelers and started to avoid travelling in cars and buses. “Anticipating tight security ahead, they started travelling in otherwise less noticeable vehicles such as trucks, pick-up vans and tractors. They revealed before us that they even travelled in a bullock-cart for some distance in Gujarat,” said the officer.
Used fake Aadhaar to stay in cheap hotels
Another officer, who was part of the arresting team, said with the help of their associates in Gujarat, they were able to procure fake Aadhaar cards. “On the basis of the forged IDS, they were staying in cheap hotels in less crowded areas of Kutch in Gujarat. However, they never stayed two successive nights in one hotel. Sometimes, fearing the police raid, they changed their hotels thrice in a day,” he said.
HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police, (special cell), said that of the six shooters involved in the murder, four criminals — Ankit Sirsa, Deepak, Jagroop Roopa and Manpreet Mannu — are still at large. “While Sirsa and Deepak were accompanying Fauji and Kashish in the Bolero that intercepted Moosewala’s vehicle from the back, Roopa and Mannu attacked the singer’s vehicles from the front in Toyota Corolla,” Dhaliwal told HT last week. The Punjab Police are also making efforts to arrest the remaining shooters.