The fourth alleged shooter of the Haryana module who was part of the fatal attack on Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala had managed to give the Delhi Police the slip twice, when the other three shooters were arrested in two separate operations in Gujarat and the national capital, it is learnt.
Police have identified six shooters who were part of two modules — one from Punjab and the other from Haryana — that attacked Moose Wala at Mansa on May 29. According to police, the Haryana module was led by Priyavrat Fauji and comprised Kashish, alias Kuldeep, Ankit Sirsa, and Deepak, alias Mundi, and the Punjab module included Manpreet Singh Mannu and Jagroop Singh Roopa. While Fauji, Kuldeep and Ankit have been nabbed by the Delhi Police special cell, the remaining three are still evading arrest.
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“The interrogation of the arrested Haryana module shooters revealed that Deepak accompanied them to Gujarat after the murder, but he along with Ankit got separated from the group a day before Priyavrat and Kashish were nabbed on June 19. They were in a nearby area, but police failed to locate them,” said a Delhi Police officer privy to the probe.
According to the officer, both Deepak and Ankit then moved to Delhi, and the two were together till hours before Ankit was arrested on July 4. “The special cell is now making attempts to trace Deepak and Kapil Pandit, who was seen in a video with the shooters,” said the officer, pleading anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}According to the officer, both Deepak and Ankit then moved to Delhi, and the two were together till hours before Ankit was arrested on July 4. “The special cell is now making attempts to trace Deepak and Kapil Pandit, who was seen in a video with the shooters,” said the officer, pleading anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}On June 19, the Delhi Police special cell had arrested Priyavrat and Kashish along with their aide Keshav, who had helped them escape, from Baroi village in Gujarat’s Kutch. Later, on July 4, Ankit along with Sachin Bhiwani, who had allegedly harboured four shooters, was arrested from Kashmiri Gate area in Delhi.
HGS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police, special cell, Delhi Police, said: “Right after Moose Wala’s killing, the special cell started working on it. After extensive efforts, we nabbed three shooters and other persons involved in the murder. Multiple teams are working in various states to nab the remaining accused and recover the weapons.”
No clue about Punjab module shooters
According to the Delhi Police officer cited above, the special cell’s probe was earlier focused on the suspects from outside Punjab.
“However, as the Punjab Police are yet to trace the Punjab module shooters, a team monitoring movement of suspects at Delhi’s borders is now working extensively to trace them. Mannu and Roopa went in a separate direction after the killing and their last know location was in Ludhiana. The special cell suspects that the duo preferred to hide in rural areas of Punjab and probably they are still in the state,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, both Delhi and Punjab Police are yet to recover weapons used in the high-profile killing and have also failed to identify the place from where they were procured. “The weapons were delivered to Fatehabad by an unidentified man. However, so far the police have not established any back link to find the weapon supplier. After the murder, the Haryana shooters handed over weapons to an unidentified man in Bhiwani, but there is no information regarding the Punjab module shooters, who fled with an AK-47 rifle. It is suspected they also handed over weapons to someone on the way,” said another police officer privy to the investigations.
According to sources, Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, who is a key aide of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and among the “main masterminds” behind the murder, remained continuously in touch with the shooters till Gujarat. “He arranged all the hideouts and gave directions to them on escape routes and time. But he went into silence after the first arrest of shooters,” said sources.