Bishnoi planned murder of Moosewala: Delhi police
Sanjeev K Jha
NEW DELHI: Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi was the “mastermind” behind the murder of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala, the Delhi Police said on Wednesday, more than a week after taking the 30-year-old criminal in remand in connection with a different case.
Addressing reporters at Delhi Police headquarters, Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police (special cell), said Bishnoi was the “main conspirator” in Moosewala’s murder.
“It was a big conspiracy to kill the Punjabi singer. We have identified at least five persons in this case and sharing their details with our counterparts in other states. We’ll soon arrest them,” said Dhaliwal.
The revelation came on the same day when the crime branch of the Mumbai Police reached the Capital to cross-interrogate Bishnoi in connection with the threat letter to Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father, screenplay writer Salim Khan, in Mumbai.
“The Maharashtra police, on the basis of our inputs, have arrested Siddhesh Hiraman Kamle, alias Mahakal, who was involved in a recent killing in Punjab’s Moga district. Mahakal is in 14-day custody of the Maharashtra Police, in a case under the MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). He is a close associate of one of the shooters, but is not involved in the killing,” said Dhaliwal.
The police, however, didn’t share details about the motive behind the Moosewala murder, and how Bishnoi conspired to execute the crime despite being lodged in the high-security Tihar jail. “These details can only be shared with the Punjab Police. Our role is to support them as enforcement agency of the national capital. Four different teams have been working on it, right from the day of incident. The role of Sachin Bishnoi, a relative of Lawrence Bishnoi, has been established in this case,” the senior officer said.
Moosewala was shot dead at Jawaharke village in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29.
When contacted, a member of the Mumbai Police crime branch team said they have come to interrogate Bishnoi to ascertain his role in the threat letter to Salman Khan and his father. “At this time, we have nothing to do with Punjabi singer’s murder case. The crime branch always works on defined and focused assignments,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.
Advocate Vishal Chopra, Bishnoi’s counsel, was unavailable for a response despite multiple calls and text messages.
On May 31, the Delhi Police special cell took custody of Bishnoi, who was already lodged in Tihar jail number 8, in connection with a case of arms smuggling registered against him last year. Bishnoi has been lodged in Tihar jail since last year, when Delhi Police registered a case under the MCOCA Act against him and his accomplices. Incidentally, he was on remand with the special cell two days before Moosewala’s murder.
Meanwhile, a Punjab government release on Wednesday said that gangster Goldy Brar has claimed responsibility of Moosewala’s murder on behalf of the Lawrence Bishnoi Gang. “The state police have not left any stone unturned for the extradition of the gangster Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar, who is a native of Sri Muktsar Sahib and had gone to Canada on a student visa in 2017. He is an active member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang,” the release added.