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Delhi police arrests two sharpshooters, one facilitator in Moosewala murder case
Police also said that gangster Goldy Brar, who is in Canada, was in touch with the hitmen on the morning of the crime, and gave them explicit instructions on how to go commit the murder
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Monday announced that it arrested three people, including two shooters, in connection with the May 29 murder of Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala, and gave details of how the murder was planned and perpetrated.
Police also said that gangster Goldy Brar, who is in Canada, was in touch with the hitmen on the morning of the crime, and gave them explicit instructions on how to go commit the murder.
The three suspects -- Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish alias Kuldeep and Keshav Kumar -- were arrested from Kutch in Gujarat on June 19, special commissioner of police (special cell) HS Dhaliwal told reporters at the Delhi Police headquarters. A cache of munitions, including a Kalashnikov assault rifle, eight grenades, and three pistols with 50 rounds of cartridges, was recovered after the accused were questioned, he said.
Fauji and Kashish were the shooters, while Keshav was driving a vehicle they used after leaving the scene of crime, Dhaliwal said.
Moosewala was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29, a day after the Punjab government scaled down his security coverage. His SUV was intercepted by two vehicles – a Mahindra Bolero and a Toyota Corolla – which was sprayed with about 30 rounds of bullets. There were six shooters in all involved in the murder, police said.
Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has been named the prime suspect in case, which is suspected to be a fallout of a gang rivalry -- soon after Moosewala’s death, Brar took responsibility for the killing, saying that it was revenge for the murder of Vicky Middukhera, who was a close friend of the Bishnoi gang.
“Among the arrested persons, 26-year-old Priyavrat Fauji was module head of the murder, and the main shooter, while 24-year-old Kashish alias Kuldeep was the other shooter involved in the murder of Moosewala. Fauji was a member of the Ramkaran gang and worked as a sharpshooter. The other arrested person is 29-year-old Keshav Kumar, who transported the shooters after the incident and participated in all the recess along with the shooters of the murder module,” Dhaliwal said.
According to police, the six shooters were travelling in the two cars which intercepted Moosewala’s SUV. A special cell officer, asking not to be named, said that Bishnoi and Brar were keeping a close tab on the commissioning of the murder. “As per our information, Brar called one of the shooters on the day of incident, and ordered him to ensure the murder of Moosewala. ‘If guns don’t work, kill him in a blast’ was his order,” the officer said, asking not to be named.
The officer added that the shooters had purchased six Punjab Police uniforms but could not use them as they did not have name plates.
“Fauji, who originally hails from Garhi Sisana in Sonepat (Haryana), led the team of shooters and was in direct touch with Goldy Brar at the time of incident. This main shooter and executioner of murder can be seen in CCTV footage of petrol pump at Fatehgarh before the crime. He was previously involved in two murder cases,” Dhaliwal said.
He added that Kashish, too, was seen in CCTV footage from the Fatehgarh petrol pump, and that the Jhajjar resident is wanted in a murder case in 2021, while Keshav, a resident of Bhatinda, played the role of facilitator in the murder, received the shooters just after the shoot-out in an Alto car and accompanied them till Mansa on the day of incident.
“He (Keshav) was previously arrested in a murder case of Bathinda in 2020 and suspected to be involved in other cases of extortion of Punjab,” Dhaliwal said.
The special commissioner added that after interrogating Fauji, police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Kirmara village in Haryana’s Hisar district on Monday.
“It included eight high explosive grenades along with under barrel grenade launchers (which can be mounted on AK-47 assault rifles), nine electric detonators, one assault rifle along with 20 rounds, three sophisticated star pistols of .30 bore, 36 rounds of 7.62 mm and part of an AK-47 assault rifle. The miscreants had kept grenades in case if guns did not suffice,” he said.
Dhaliwal said that police have so far arrested 16 people from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and other states in connection with Moosewala’s murder. Separately, a Punjab Police special investigation team has arrested 11 people in connection with the case.
