12 members of gang linked to Moose Wala’s murder arrested

The accused are said to have been linked to those who supplied firearms to the killers of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Lucknow/Faridkot

Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by six unidentified assailants in Mansa on May 29, 2022.

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police have arrested 12 members of a gang allegedly linked to those who supplied firearms to killers of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, Bulandshahr police officials said on Thursday.

Officials said that they recovered at least seven country-made .32 bore pistols and 10 cartridges, as well as five country-made .315 bore firearms and five cartridges from the arrested accused in Bulandshahr district.

Moose Wala was shot dead by six unidentified assailants on May 29, 2022, when he along with his cousin and friend was driving in a jeep to Jawahar Ke village in Mansa, 10km from his native village Moosa.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, a close associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder.

A senior Bulandshahr police official said the arrested accused were identified as Himanshu Chowdhary, Deepanshu Chowdhary, Adil Khan, Sahil Alvi, Razi Alvi, Mohd Azam Khan, Danish, Monish, Mohd Shoaib, Satyendra, Nadeem Khan, and Azeem Ansari. Of them, Himanshu Chowdhary has a long crime record with nearly 15 criminal cases registered in Bulandshahr alone and two cases against Deepanshu Chowdhary, while the 10 others are first-timers.

Bulandshahr superintendent of police (SP) Shlok Kumar said six of the arrested accused were apprehended near the graveyard adjoining a mosque under City Kotwali police station limits, while six others were arrested from Badnaura bridge later on Wednesday on the basis of information provided by the previously arrested accused.

He said the arrested accused revealed that they used to purchase firearms from Bilal and Rizwan, residents of Khurja in Bulandshahr, and later supplied them to criminal gangs in Delhi, NCR, Punjab, and Haryana. Efforts are being made to arrest Bilal and Rizwan, who are also on the radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly supplying firearms to the killers of Moose Wala. A reward of ₹25,000 each has been announced for the arrest of Bilal and Rizwan. The special investigation team (SIT) probing Moose Wala’s murder has filed four chargesheets, including three supplementary chargesheets, against 34 accused, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Canada-based Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, claiming the murder was part of a series of revenge killings between the Bishnoi and Bambiha gangs.

Of the total 32 accused, the police have arrested 29. Two of them, Mandeep Singh and Manmohan Singh, were killed during a clash in Goindwal jail in February. Three accused, including Goldy Brar, Lawrence’s younger brother Anmol Bishnoi and Lipin Nehra, are absconding and are believed to be abroad.

Two shooters, Manpreet Singh Mannu and Jagroop Singh Roopa, were killed in a police encounter in Amritsar before the filing of the chargesheets. The 29 accused are lodged in different jails.