Sidhu Moose Wala killing: 8 sharp shooters identified by Punjab police

The Punjab Police on Monday made a fresh arrest of a man from Haryana's Sirsa district in connection with the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, even as sources said eight sharp shooters involved in the case have also been identified.

The man was identified as Sandeep alias Kenkra, who hails from Kalanwali village in Sirsa district, police sources said.

READ | NIA ready to investigate Sidhu Moose Wala's death if Punjab govt recommends: BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa

They said Kenkra's role in the murder case is under scanner for allegedly passing on information about Moosewala's movement to the shooters involved in the killing.

The killers had used Kenkra for recce in the crime and police are believed to have zeroed in on him on the basis of a CCTV footage.

On Sunday evening, Davinder alias Kala was nabbed from Fatehabad, taking the number of people held in the case from Haryana so far to four, the sources said. Two suspects involved in the killing had allegedly stayed with Davinder, they said.

On June 3, two other suspects were nabbed by the Punjab Police from Fatehabad and their roles in the Moosewala's murder were being probed.

Meanwhile, eight sharp shooters are learnt to have been identified by the police in connection with the case and they hail from different states, including Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra, the sources said.

Besides, police have also rounded up some people and got several important leads in connection with the murder, they said.

As many as 15 teams have been constituted by the police to arrest the culprits involved in the killing.

On May 29, Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Punjab's Mansa district.

Two days after the murder, the Punjab Police had on May 31 made the first arrest in this case. Manpreet Singh, who was arrested from Uttarakhand, was accused of providing logistic support to the assailants.

Meanwhile, politicians cutting across parties continued to reach Moosewala's native village in Mansa to meet the singer's family to express their condolences.

"There cannot be bigger pain than a father having to see his young son dying like this. Everyone wants justice in this incident," senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who met the family on Monday, said.

While interacting with reporters, he expressed concern over the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab.

"Every day there is one incident or the other. Drug mafia, gangsters and terror elements are spreading their tentacles", the Congress leader from Rajasthan said.

Referring to Moosewala's killing, he said the state and Central governments should go to the bottom of this incident and exemplary punishment should be given to those involved in the gruesome killing.

He said Moosewala was a popular singer and a Congress leader.

Pilot said that people of Punjab have seen dark days of militancy and at no cost will anyone want that such period comes back again.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, after meeting the family on Sunday, had said the Centre is ready to get the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala probed by a central agency like NIA if the Punjab government recommends it.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also wrote to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, urging him to "transfer the murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) so that justice can be delivered to the family at the earliest".

On May 29, Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Punjab's Mansa district, a day after the state government curtailed his security cover. His cousin and a friend, who were travelling in a jeep with him, were also injured in the attack.

Moosewala was among the 424 people whose security was withdrawn or curtailed by the Punjab Police on a temporary basis.

The state police had termed the incident a case of an inter-gang rivalry and said the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was behind the killing. Canada-based Goldy Brar, who is a member of the gang, had claimed the responsibility for the murder.