Criminal with link to Moose Wala murder arrested in Bathinda
Aged 26, the suspect has been identified as Harkamal Singh, alias Ranu, of Parsaram Nagar in Bathinda
The Bathinda police on Friday arrested a history-sheeter, who in a few media reports has been identified as one of the shooters behind Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder in Mansa on May 29.
Aged 26, the suspect has been identified as Harkamal Singh, alias Ranu, of Parsaram Nagar in Bathinda. However, the special investigation team (SIT) probing Moose Wala’s case has denied that he was one the shooters, though he is suspected to have provided logistics support to them.
Ranu is facing 11 criminal cases and had also fled from police custody in the past. A few months after being released from jail after serving five years, he was again arrested in an Arms Act case in January and came out on bail recently. The Friday arrest was made in a separate case registered against him.
Ranu’s grandfather Gurcharan Singh claimed that the family handed him over to the Punjab Police to get his name cleared in Moose Wala’s murder. “He assured us that he had no role to play in it,” he said.
“So far, the SIT has identified four shooters, but it is not yet ascertained how many of them were there, as no one who can confirm the count has been arrested so far. It could be 8-10,” said a SIT member, on the condition of anonymity. All arrests made so far are of those who conducted recce or provided logistics support, he said.
Five suspects being quizzed
Meanwhile, the SIT is interrogating the five suspects in its custody. According to the official cited above, Sandeep Kumar, alias Kekra, who allegedly passed on the real-time information about the movement of Moose Wala’s vehicle to the shooters, has told cops that he was not aware that they were planning to kill the singer. “He claimed that the accused told him that they just wanted to beat up Moose Wala. He confessed that he was paid ₹15,000 for providing information after doing recce,” said the official.
Sources said that Kekra had made more than 13 calls to Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar through a calling app, and had told him that Moose Wala had left without gunmen or a bulletproof vehicle on the fateful day. A close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Brar is the key conspirator in the case.
Brar’s aide held in Muktsar
The Muktsar police have arrested a criminal allegedly associated with Bishnoi and Brar. Identified as Gurdeep Singh, alias Geeta, he was arrested after being spotted in the fields at Warring village, said inspector general of police, Faridkot range, PK Yadav.
Gurdeep allegedly told police that he had been working closely with Brar and supplied seven weapons to different gangsters on his directions.
Police recovered three pistols and three SUVs from his possession. Yadav said Gurdeep, a resident of Haryana’s Sirsa district, is involved in five heinous crimes, including four attempt to murder cases, in Haryana and Punjab.
(with inputs from Bathinda)
