The Punjab police is yet to narrow down on the identity of the shooters.
A minor oversight by gangsters who planned Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala's assassination might unravel the entire plot and provide crucial evidence in finding the shooters. According to sources, jailed gangsters who were responsible for the killing had taken all precautions, including using virtual phone numbers and untraceable apps to communicate and sophisticated weapons to kill. However, they faltered in the choice of the getaway vehicle which could potentially lead to the killers.
When Sidhu Moose Wala was travelling to his ailing aunt's home in Barnala with friends Gurvinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh in his Mahindra Thar SUV, one of the criminals visited his house with the excuse of getting a selfie clicked. He reportedly informed the shooters that the singer had left without the security detail or the bulletproof car.
The assassins then fired at Sidhu Moose Wala's vehicle from a Toyota Corolla car in Jawaharke village of Mansa district. The bullets hit the rear side of the vehicle after which the singer reportedly fired twice at the car from his licensed pistol. However, a Mahindra Bolero overtook the singer's car right then and started firing indiscriminately from a sophisticated automatic assault rifle. Sidhu Moose Wala died on the spot and the two friends sustained injuries.
The shooters then fled the spot in their vehicles but the Bolero abruptly stopped nearby after which all of them tried to flee in the Corolla car. The Corolla also shut down due to overheating and the shooters robbed a Maruti Suzuki Alto from a passerby, which again shut down soon after. Eyewitnesses saw the shooters fleeing on foot after that.
When the police were investigating the murder, they got hold of the Corolla car. They arrested a man named Manpreet from Dehradun in Uttarakhand with help from the hill state police's Special Task Force (STF) based on the registration number of the car.
Manpreet told the police that he gave his car to the shooters on request from the gangster Sharaj who is lodged in Ferozepur jail. The Punjab police then took custody of Sharaj and Manpreet, who is jailed in Bhatinda, on a production warrant.
The arrested criminals revealed that Sharaj was asked to provide a vehicle to the shooters but instead of getting a different vehicle, he gave his own car. This is why when the shooters tried to get away after the murder, they were forced to abandon the old banged-up car and flee on foot.
Punjab police have also interrogated gangster Sampat Nehra who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail. Prison officials said Punjab police took him to Punjab on a production warrant on May 31 after which he was brought back to Tihar this morning.
Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is a suspect in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, is not cooperating with the police during interrogation, Delhi Police sources have said. He has also denied any role in the killing of the Punjabi singer on Sunday, the sources said.
Lawrence Bishnoi has been serving time in Delhi's Tihar Jail in a separate case. The Delhi Police's Special Cell took him into their custody in the old case to interrogate him.
The gangster's aide in Canada, Goldy Brar, in an unverified Facebook post claimed responsibility for the singer's murder. Lawrence Bishnoi, however, told the police he or people linked to his gang had no role in Sunday's shooting, sources said.
The police believe Lawrence Bishnoi is lying, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Apprehending a fake encounter by Punjab Police, Bishnoi had wanted that his security is increased and videography be undertaken in case he is taken on remand by Punjab Police.
Advocate General Punjab Anmol Rattan Sidhu, however, said today that Lawrence Bishnoi's name doesn't figure in the FIR registered for Sidhu Moose Wala's killing after which the court observed that the plea is not maintainable and hence dismissed.
The Punjab police is yet to narrow down on the identity of the shooters.