First arrest made in killing as Moosewala is cremated BISHNOI HELD IN OLD CASE; COPS TO PROBE HIS ROLE IN SINGER’S MURDER
Parteek Singh Mahal
MOOSA (MANSA): Thousands of people — family, friends, and fans from multiple states — g a t h e r e d a t t h e h o me o f Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, the Punjabi singer and Congress leader popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, who was cremated on Tuesday.
On the same day, the Punjab Police made the first arrest. “The first arrest has been made in the murder of Sidhu Moosewala. Police have secured 5-day remand of the accused, identified as Manpreet Singh, from Mansa court,” said Parveen Kumar Yadav, inspector general of police, Faridkot range. “As per investigation, he has played key role in the murder plot.”
Emotion was high at the cremation ceremony as it did with the many symbolisms that associated with the sometimes controversial but deeply admired life and work of the 28-year-old pop star. Chief among them was the uncanny resemblance that Tuesday’s ceremony – the outpouring of grief by thousands who came from other states — resembled Moosewala’s song “Last Ride”; his body was carried on the HMT 5911 tractor, which featured in his music videos; and the cremation took place in the fields he once farmed.
“Aina pyaar sab toh laike, hun tu sanu chadd ke chala gaya (after getting a lot of love from everyone, now you have left us),” his father Balkaur Singh was seen saying, hunched over Moosewala’s body, which arrived at the home after an autopsy.
On Sunday, Moosewala, the only child of his parents, was gunned down while he drove through Jawaharke village, five kilometres from his residence.
With a traditional wedding headdress, or sehra, tied to the turban, Moosewala’s body was prepared for the cremation in the traditions that a bridegroom prepares for a wedding – family members said this was meant to symbolically celebrate a marriage that was scheduled for later this year.
Several moments during the cremation were striking: At one point, Moosewala’s father was seen thumping his chest and thighs in the manner his son did while on stage as a show of strength, and at another, he took off his turban to acknowledge the sea of mourners around him.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was at the ceremony, while BJP state president Ashwani Sharma and former cabinet minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi visited the family later in the day.
In the days since the death of Moosewala on Sunday, the state police has blamed the murder on a case of gang rivalry and accused a group led by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail.
NEW DELHI: Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, whose role is suspected in the murder of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala, was on Tuesday arrested by Delhi police in connection with a case registered against him last year.
After arresting Bishnoi from Tihar’s jail number 8, the Delhi police special cell produced him before a city court, which sent him to three-day police custody.
During his custody, Bishnoi’s role in the murder of Moosewala will also be probed, said a senior officer, requesting anonymity. Police suspect some of his accomplices based in Delhi might have helped in the murder, the officer added.
Hours after Moosewala was shot dead at Jawaharke village in Punjab’s Mansa district, the state’s police on Sunday night claimed Bishnoi and his accomplice Goldy Brar, a Canada-based gangster, were suspects.
“Bishnoi has been arrested in an earlier case of arms smuggling registered at outer Delhi’s Narela,” said a police officer aware of the development. “The weapon used by a gunman in Narela was allegedly supplied by Bishnoi.” “In the backdrop of fresh allegations of murder against him, Bishnoi will be questioned for his role in the singer’s murder case.”
HGS Dhaliwal, chief of the special cell, did not respond to repeated calls from HT.
Meanwhile, Bishnoi moved the Delhi high court on Tuesday for blocking custody to Punjab police, claiming fear for his life, a day after a city court refused to entertain the same petition.
“My client fears for his life if he is taken to Punjab,” said advocate Vishal Chopra.