First person arrested in Moosewala killing sent to 5-day police custody
Darpan News Desk IANS, 31 May, 2022 11:19 AM
Chandigarh, May 31 (IANS) Manpreet Singh, the first arrest in the killing of famed singer-turned-politician Sidhu Moosewala was produced before a Mansa court in Punjab on Tuesday and was sent to police custody for five days.
A team of Punjab Police along with sleuths of the Uttarakhand STF had arrested Manpreet Singh from Dehradun on Monday. He was suspected to have provided "key logistical support" in the murder of the Punjabi singer.
Singh, a resident of Faridkot in Punjab, was reportedly trying to hide among pilgrims, who were scheduled to go on a yatra to Hemkund in Chamoli district when the police nabbed him.
Meanwhile, the cremation of Moosewala was held in his native village Moosa in Mansa district on Tuesday.
After much delay to get the consent of his father, the postmortem of Moosewala was conducted by a five-member forensic team of doctors from Patiala and Faridkot medical colleges at the Civil Hospital in Mansa.
Tens of thousands of Moosewala's fans and followers gathered outside his palatial bungalow to pay tributes and attended his funeral.
Officials told IANS the singer-turned-politician's wailing parents gave consent for the postmortem of their only child after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced to set up a judicial commission under a sitting judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to probe his killing.
Moosewala's song 'The Last Ride' was reportedly a tribute to rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot dead in his car at the age of 25 in 1996.
Moosewala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, 29, was shot dead while driving his vehicle in Mansa district on Sunday, a day after his security cover was withdrawn.
According to sources, Singh, a resident of Faridkot, was the person who had launched the attack on Monday. A rocket-propelled grenade or RPG was fired from the street that shattered the window panes of Punjab Police's intelligence headquarters in Mohali.
Lt Gen Aujla, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned in December 1987 and has had an illustrious military career spanning 35 years during which he has held varied prestigious command, staff and instructional appointments.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
