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.
The force said that positive identification of only three mortal remains -- Gen Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and Brig L.S. Lidder -- has been possible as of now, and their mortal remains will be released to the next of kin for final rites as desired by the respective families.
Almost 15 months after the farmers' agitation began against the (now scrapped) farm laws and other issues, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions that led the protest, said on Thursday that it has suspended the agaitation after receiving positive assurances from the government on their demands, adding that the borders of Delhi will be cleared by Saturday.
India's civil aviation regulator, the DGCA, on Thursday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till January 31.Earlier, India had announced plans to allow resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services from December 15 with certain conditions.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the country's top security officers held a meeting on Wednesday over the situation arising out of the IAF chopper crash in Tamil Nadu that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others onboard the ill-fated helicopter.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the farmers protesting along the borders of the national capital over agricultural issues, have agreed to the draft proposal prepared by the Central government, and is expected make a "major announcement" on Thursday. A meeting is likely to be held on Thursday noon to decide the further strategy of the movement.
