Shots fired at Sidhu Moose Wala's friend, singer Gulab Sidhu’s house in Barnala

Police said Sidhu’s father, mother, wife and children were present inside the house when the shots were fired while the singer was in Australia.

Three motorcycle-borne masked men allegedly opened fire at the residence of Punjabi singer Gulab Sidhu in Barnala’s Pharwahi village past Saturday midnight.

Three motorcycle-borne masked men opened fire at the house of Punjabi singer Gulab Sidhu in Barnala’s Pharwahi village. (HT Photo)

Police said Sidhu’s father, mother, wife and children were present inside the house when the shots were fired while the singer was in Australia.

Barnala superintendent of police (SP) Sanjeev Goyal said three men arrived on a motorcycle and fired six shots at the house between 1.30 am and 2 am, before fleeing.

Having a following of 1.7 million on Instagram, Gulab Sidhu was a close friend of slain singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead in Mansa in May 2022.

Last year, he stirred a row with his song about sarpanches, following which he tendered an apology.

Gangster Doni Bal claims responsibility

Following the late-night firing, a purported audio clip of gangster Doni Bal surfaced on social media in which he claimed responsibility for the attack.

The unverified audio clip claimed that Gulab Sidhu had been attending weddings of friends of Sidhu Moose Wala’s killers while cashing in on Moose Wala’s name. “He could not hear the ringtones of our phone calls. So we rang his doorbell to give him a little sense,” claims the audio, whose veracity was not confirmed by police. .

The SP said the singer had received threats earlier as well and that two gunmen had been provided to him for security. The security personnel were present at the residence at the time of the firing.

Police have launched a probe after registering a case under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 191(3) (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon) and 190 (unlawful assembly) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Barnala Sadar police station.

Barnala senior superintendent of police Sarfaraz Alam could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.