5th chargesheet places Bishnoi’s interviews from jail as evidence

The special investigation team (SIT) probing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder recently filed a supplementary (fifth) chargesheet to bring on record as a piece of evidence the two interviews of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, said to be the mastermind in the murder case.

(Slug) Moose Wala murder case

The special investigation team (SIT) probing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder recently filed a supplementary (fifth) chargesheet to bring on record as a piece of evidence the two interviews of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, said to be the mastermind in the murder case. (HT File)

(Blurb) One of the two prime eyewitnesses records statement in Mansa trial court

The special investigation team (SIT) probing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder recently filed a supplementary (fifth) chargesheet to bring on record as a piece of evidence the two interviews of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, said to be the mastermind in the murder case. The interviews of Bishnoi with a private news channel are said to have been conducted in September 2022 and March 2023 while he was in police and judicial custody, respectively. People familiar with the development said the police also submitted additional evidence in this chargesheet before the Mansa court.

On May 29, 2022, six shooters shot dead Moose Wala when he, along with his two friends, was going in his vehicle to Jawaharke village in Mansa, 10 km from the singer’s native village Moosa.

The prosecution agency had also moved an application for the status report regarding the evidence of videos involving Bishnoi’s interview with a news channel as a confession of conspirators regarding the murder.

Recently, an SIT probing the interviews submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court that Bishnoi’s first interview was held in CIA police station, Kharar, and the second in a Rajasthan jail.

Eyewitness records statement in trial court

One of the two prime eyewitnesses, listed by the prosecution in Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder case, partially recorded his statement in the trial court in Mansa on Friday. The matter was adjourned until August 30. Moose Wala’s father Balkaur Singh, complainant in the case, didn’t appear in the court.

On May 1, almost 24 months after the sensational murder of Punjabi singer-turned-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala, the court had framed charges against 27 accused, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.

The court had ordered the beginning of the prosecution evidence and summoned Gurwinder and Gurpreet, who were traveling with Moose Wala when he was killed. Both had sustained bullet injuries in the incident. The duo had skipped the first three hearings citing personal reasons.

In the chargesheet, the SIT had claimed that Gurwinder and Gurpreet in their statements mentioned that after killing Moose Wala, shooters had said they did so on the directions of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. They also identified the shooters.

The SIT probing Moose Wala’s murder has filed five chargesheets, including four supplementary chargesheets, against 32 accused, including 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.