A first-information report has been filed in the murder of Punjab singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, a day after he was shot dead in the state’s Mansa district. The case has triggered a massive political row with the Congress demanding the dismissal of the Bhagwant Mann government. The killing took place a day after his security was downgraded by the state government in the midst of action against “VIP culture”. The family has refused to allow the post-mortem of the body.
The FIR was filed on Moose Wala's father Balkour Singh’s complaint. According to the first information report, the Congress leader was “getting extortion and threat to life calls from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and others”. The singer-politician's father has sought an investigation by a central probe agency - NIA or CBI - in a letter to the chief minister. Balkour Singh said he was witness to the fatal attack on his son. Singh “took both police security personnel in his car after he learnt that Moose Wala had left home without guards,” on Sunday evening, he said. A CCTV footage has emerged that shows a Sedan and SUV trailing the Congress leader’s car on Sunday evening, shortly after he left home. He was not in his bulletproof car, the police had said. Both the Sedan and SUV had four assailants each, says the FIR, which adds that according to the “eyewitness and complainant, the driver of the SUV first opened fire at Moose Wala, who was driving his Thar.” About 30 rounds of FIR are said to have been fired.