Bhagwant Mann claimed that gangster Goldy Brar (in pic) was detained in California.
Days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that gangster Goldy Brar was detained in California, an interview reportedly of the gangster surfaced online on Monday wherein he claimed that he was not held and nor was he in the US.
Bhagwant Mann on December 2 had confirmed in Ahmedabad in Gujarat that Brar -- the alleged mastermind behind the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala -- had been detained by the police in California and that he would "definitely be brought to India". He will be in the custody of the Punjab Police "very soon", Mr Mann had told reporters.
However, Goldy Brar in a purported interview given to a journalist on YouTube denied these claims. The authenticity of the interview could not be ascertained either by Press Trust of India or by NDTV.
In the purported interview, the person calling himself Goldy Brar claimed that he had not been detained and also he was not in the US. In the audio clip of the interview, he could be heard contradicting Mann's claims about his detention.
Goldy Brar was the alleged mastermind behind the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala in May this year.
Bhagwant Mann has been under fire from the opposition parties over his claim of the detention of Goldy Brar.
Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia had earlier asked the Punjab Police chief to confirm the news of detention of the gangster in the US, asserting that he did not trust the statement of the chief minister on the matter.
Mr Majithia had accused Bhagwant Mann of lying to people and said he had information that Goldy Brar had not been held yet. He had claimed that the Chief Minister gave a misleading statement on the gangster.
Shiromani Akali Dal spokesman Arshdeep Singh Kaler on Monday asked Mann why he was mum after his claims on the detention of Brar had fallen flat as the purported interview of the gangster appeared in public domain.
Mr Kaler said it was shocking that more than three days had passed since the chief minister made a "tall claim" on the detention of Goldy Brar in Gujarat with the sole motive to garner votes for the AAP.
Hitting back, Aam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang slammed SAD leader Majithia for raising questions over the Chief Minister's statement on Goldy Brar.
It is amusing that Mr Majithia is backing a notorious gangster's statement and raising questions over Punjab Chief Minister's statement, he said.
"My question to Mr Majithia is that you are going by the claims of Goldy Brar about his detention but doubting the statement made by CM Bhagwant Mann," Mr Kang said.
Earlier, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had also asked the Punjab Director General of Police to clear air on the detention of Goldy Brar.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district on May 29.
Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility for the singer's brutal murder. A red corner notice, which allows the arrest and detention of a fugitive abroad, was issued against him.
Sidhu Moosewala's murder was in retaliation to youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera's killing that took place last year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)