Moosewala murder: Youngest attacker was most desperate, fired simultaneously from two guns
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jul, 2022 10:20 AM
The youngest among the six shooters, who were involved in the brutal killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, has been arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.
The ambidextrous sharpshooter, identified as Ankit alias Chhota, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, was most desperate to commit the crime.
"He fired simultaneously from two pistols in his two hands," H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Special Commissioner (Special Cell), said during a media briefing.
The accused shooter was closest to Moosewala's car during the shootout.
Apart from Ankit, the Special Cell has also nabbed another dreaded face of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Goldy Brar-Kala Jathedi criminal nexus across Haryana, Rajasthan and bordering areas of Punjab.
The criminal, identified as Sachin Choudhary alias Sachin Bhiwani, provided shelter to the module of four shooters, immediately after the murder of the singer.
Later, he even helped them escape to Haryana-Rajasthan-Gujarat-Madhya Pradesh-Uttar Pradesh-Jharkhand and provided shelter there.
Moosewala, 28, one of the most famous Punjabi singers of the current time, was shot dead on May 29 by six assailants who fired over 30 shots at him near Jawaharke village in Punjab's Mansa district.
Sidhu was found soaked in blood on the driver's seat of his Mahindra Thar SUV while two more occupants in the car, Gurwinder Singh and Gurpreet Singh, also received bullet injuries, but they survived.
The Special CP said during the past 30-35 days, these attackers changed over 30 locations and were constantly on the run to evade arrest.
The major breakthrough was achieved when the Special Cell on June 19 arrested module head Priyavrat alias Fauji and Kashish alias Kuldeep, and a facilitator named Keshav Kumar from Kutch district in Gujarat. They unravelled the conspiracy and execution of the crime.
After their arrest, the remaining members of the alliance continuously changed their hideouts, and sparingly used mobile phones for communication through end-to-end encrypted chat platforms.
The police have arrested three of the six shooters so far -- Priyavrat, Kashish and Ankit alias Chhota. Three others are still at large.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.
