Two Bishnoi aides arrested in Haryana
Are accused of killing a rival gangster in Moga, involvement in Moose Wala case suspected too
MANSA: In a joint operation with the Haryana Police, Punjab’s Moga police on Friday morning arrested two men linked to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from Fatehabad amid probe into the murder of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, aka Sidhu Moose Wala.
The gang led by Bishnoi, who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, has claimed responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder at Jawaharke village in Mansa district on May 29.
Identified as Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb, the two men were arrested from Bhirdhana village in Haryana’s Fatehabad in a murder case registered in Moga, though their involvement is also suspected in Moose Wala’s killing, said police.
Gulneet Singh Khurana, senior superintendent of police, Moga, said: “The two were arrested for the murder of gangster Harjit Singh Penta following investigations.” Penta, 32, was shot dead by two bikeborne assailants at Marhi Mustafa village in Moga’s Baghapurana in April. Police had claimed that Penta, who was affiliated with Devinder Bambiha gang, was killed on Bishnoi’s directions.
The vehicle trail
The duo’s role is also under investigation in Moose Wala’s murder as their location was traced nearby on the day of the crime, said a member of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the high-profile killing,
on the condition of anonymity.
The link was established after a white Mahindra Bolero SUV, which was used by the assailants, was spotted in the CCTV footage on Hanspur road in Fatehabad four days before the attack. “After checking the footage, the Punjab Police got some leads, and their entry route was established. They came to Mansa from Fatehabad via Budhladha town of Mansa district on May 25. Right now, the role of the arrested persons is under investigation,” said the SIT member cited above.
A Maruti Suzuki Alto car, which was snatched by the assailants from Mansa after killing Moose Wala in Jawaharke village, was recovered from the Barnala-Jalandhar road in Moga a day after the murder. Police suspect the duo had abandoned the car before returning to Fatehabad.
A day after the Bolero entered Punjab, another vehicle — silver Toyota Corolla — which was also used in the crime was seen multiple times near Moose Wala’s residence in the CCTV footage from three days before
the fatal attack. This was the same car that tailed Moose Wala’s Mahindra Thar on the day of the murder. Assailants had abandoned the car after it developed a snag a few kilometres away from Jawaharke village and snatched the Alto.
The CCTV footage of the killers fleeing in their vehicles after the murder shows that they were travelling in separate groups. Around 18 minutes after the killing, the Bolero and Alto were spotted at Bappiana village, around 10 kilometres from Jawaharke, while a black Mahindra Scorpio — which was the third vehicle used by assailants — had gone in a separate direction from the crime spot.
Police sources said Moose Wala was attacked at 5:29 pm while the Bolero and Alto surfaced in the CCTV footage collected from Bappiana at 5:47 pm. Later, they went their separate ways, as the Alto moved towards Barnala via Bhikhi through villages and was later spotted on the Barnala-Moga road before it was abandoned in the Dharmakot subdivision of Moga district.