The Punjab government will ask the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to set up an inquiry commission to look into the killing of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Monday, reported The Tribune.
Moose Wala was shot dead in the Jahawarke village of Mansa district in Punjab on Sunday evening. The attack took place just a day after the Punjab government withdrew security cover for 424 persons, including to the singer, who is also a Congress leader.
Earlier in the day, Moose Wala’s father Balkar Singh Sidhu demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency into the murder, ANI reported. He demanded that officers who made the order about withdrawing security to 424 persons should be held accountable.
He also sought an apology from the director general of police for linking the killing to gang rivalry.
The Punjab government will ensure full cooperation to the inquiry commission, a press note from the chief minister’s office stated, according to ANI. The chief minister’s office added that the perpetrators will be put behind bars soon.
The registrar general of the High Court subsequently wrote to the state principal secretary (home), asking him to place the matter before the chief justice of the High Court.
Meanwhile, Mann also told Punjab Director General of Police VK Bhawra to issue a clarification about his statement in a press conference on Sunday that Moose Wala’s killing was the result of a gang rivalry.
The chief minister’s office added that Mann has ordered an inquiry at the highest level to look into “the aspects of security reduction and fix responsibility”.
Mann expressed “deep shock” at Moose Wala’s death, the press release from the chief minister’s office said.
“He said that [Moose Wala] was a celebrated artist and cultural icon of Punjab and he has the highest respect for him,” the chief minister’s office stated.
Jailed gangster says Punjab Police might kill him
Meanwhile, the jailed leader of a criminal gang, which has claimed responsibility for the murder of Moose Wala, filed a plea before the Patiala House Court in Delhi on Monday, saying he fears Punjab Police might kill him.
The gang leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for an offence committed under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, or MCOCA. Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang member, Goldy Brar, who lives in Canada, had in a Facebook post claimed responsibility for the singer’s killing, reports said.
In his plea, Bishnoi said he should not be handed over to the Punjab Police because he could be killed in a “fake encounter”.
Special Judge Praveen Singh, however, said there was no ground for Bishnoi to file the application before the court, according to PTI.
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