Singer Sidhu Moose Wala's father Balkaur Singh at the cremation of his son
The inconsolable parents of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala showed exemplary courage as thousands of people paid their last respects to the couple's only child, who was murdered on Sunday.
Sidhu Moose Wala was cremated at his ancestral village, Jawaharke, amid heavy security deployment by the Punjab Police today. Thousands from near and far came at the cremation.
The family took the body for cremation after a post-mortem this morning in Mansa Civil Hospital. The autopsy report said over two dozen bullets were fired at Sidhu Moose Wala.
After the cremation, the singer's father, Balkaur Singh, removed his turban and held it out in his hands towards a sea of people, in what many believed was a moving gesture to show he has lost everything.
Mr Singh had been following his son's SUV when some unidentified men shot the singer 30 times from close range with an assault rifle on Sunday.
In a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann yesterday, the singer's father sought an investigation by a high court judge. He demanded the Punjab government should bring in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the probe.
"Shubhdeep's (Sidhu Moose Wala) mother is asking me where her son is and when he will return. What reply should I give?" said Mr Singh in an emotional letter. "I hope that I will get justice," he added.
The police have said a gangster jailed in Delhi, Lawrence Bishnoi, and his Canada-based aide Goldy Brar are responsible for the murder. Goldy Brar in a Facebook post, not verified by the police, said he killed Sidhu Moose Wala.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, who took his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, had contested the Punjab assembly election earlier this year on a Congress ticket and lost. His security was curtailed from four to two commandos a day before he was shot dead. On Sunday, he did not use his bulletproof vehicle and left the two bodyguards home.