Moose Wala murder: Lawrence Bishnoi brought to Punjab for questioning; produced before Mansa court

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala is making steady progress, Additional Director General of Punjab Police Pramod Ban said on Tuesday.

Moosewala, the singer-politician who had joined the Congress months before the state assembly polls, was shot dead on May 29 by unidentified assailants in Mansa district, a day after the state government curtailed his security cover.

"The SIT headed by Inspector General of Police Jaskaran Singh is making steady progress in the investigation and connecting the dots by working on the leads gathered so far through interrogation of the suspects already arrested and other inputs," Ban, who also heads the Anti-Gangster Task Force, was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Punjab government on Tuesday night.

Following “strenuous” efforts made by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to put Moosewala's killers behind bars, the Punjab Police on Tuesday got the transit remand of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi from the Patiala House Court in Delhi, the statement said.

Bishnoi is being brought to Punjab under heavy security cover and is expected to reach early Wednesday, it said.

The court passed the order as Punjab Police produced Bishnoi before it after formally arresting him in the case, according to the statement.

The statement said Bishnoi, who has been named as an accused and conspirator in Moosewala's murder case, was in the custody of Delhi Police for the last 14 days.

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The Delhi Police had brought the gangster on production warrants from Tihar Jail and on completion of his police remand on Tuesday. The Special Cell of Delhi Police produced Bishnoi in the court.

According to the statement, the Advocate General of Punjab appeared in the court in Delhi on the directions of Mann to demand Bishnoi’s transit remand.

An application was moved by the SIT investigating the murder case to seek permission of the court to arrest Bishnoi against whom the local Mansa court had already issued arrest warrants.

The plea of the Punjab Police was contested by the lawyers of the accused on the grounds of his security in the custody of the Punjab Police, which was opposed by the Advocate General of Punjab.

After hearing the contentions of both the parties, the court granted permission to arrest the accused and also gave a transit remand, it said.

Bishnoi will be produced in the court of chief judicial magistrate, Mansa and taken on police remand for further interrogation to unravel the conspiracy and the motive behind the killing, said the statement.

Earlier, Punjab Police had said the killing of Moosewala seemed to be the result of an inter-gang rivalry and that the Bishnoi gang was involved in it.

Punjab Police has arrested nine people for providing logistic support, conducting recce, and harbouring the shooters of Moosewala, the statement said.

The arrested include Charanjit Singh alias Chetan, Manpreet Singh alias Manna, Manpreet Bhau, Saraj Mintu, all residents of Punjab, and Sandeep Singh alias Kekda, Prabhdeep Sidhu alias Pabbi, Monu Dagar, Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb hailing from Haryana, it said.

The Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab is not leaving any stone unturned to extradite Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, who was the first to take responsibility for the murder, the statement said.