Day after Amritsar encounter Moosewala’s father visits hospital to identify singer’s alleged killers

The DGP, however, refused to divulge further details about him.

While two shooters were killed in the encounter, three were arrested earlier.

Meanwhile, Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh visited the Amritsar civil hospital to identify the bodies of the two shooters.

“The police did its action and I appreciate its work. It is just the beginning and it is a long fight,” Balkaur Singh told reporters outside the hospital morgue.

He, however, said the killing of the two gangsters will not bring back his son, but asserted that the police action against criminals needs to continue.

Balkaur Singh, in a police complaint after his son was killed on May 29, had said that he had followed Moosewala with a gunman in a bullet-proof car and later witnessed unidentified men firing a volley of shots at his son’s vehicle.

On Wednesday, the Punjab Police killed Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa in a nearly five-hour-long encounter near the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar. They were hiding in a building in Bhakna village. Three policemen and a journalist were also injured during the operation.

On being asked if the two gangsters had any local support, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said, “We have come to know that a car had dropped them. We are trying to trace the car”.

Locals, meanwhile, claimed that three to four persons had reached the building in two cars — a Toyota Corolla and a Mahindra Thar — before the encounter began.

Bhakna village resident Gurbhej Singh, who was working with eight labourers on a fodder cutting machine near the encounter site, said, “At around 10:15am, two cars came in which there were three to four persons. They entered the house. After five minutes police came and encounter began”.

Meanwhile, the police claimed to have recovered 31 rounds of AK-47, a US-made 45 bore pistol and two magazines from the building. A broken mobile has also been recovered.

On Wednesday, police recovered an AK-47 rifle and a 9 mm pistol from the slain gangsters.

Asked whether any drugs were recovered from the encounter site, Bhullar said, “We have recovered some tablets and our forensic teams are examining them.” No document has been recovered, he said when asked if any fake passports were found.

“We need one to two days more to make complete assessment of crime scene. We cannot allow media at the encounter site until it is done,” the DCP said.

The senior official said: “We wanted to catch them alive. But when they did not stop firing, they were killed in the exchange of fire”.

Earlier, DGP Yadav said the department is making efforts to extradite Canada-based Goldy Brar, who claimed responsibility for Moosewala’s murder.

After Moosewala’s murder, police had identified six shooters who were part of the two modules allegedly involved in the singer’s killing.

A Special Cell of the Delhi Police then nabbed three of them –Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sirsa. These three, along with Mundi, were part of the first module formed to kill Moosewala.

Roopa and Mannu Kusa, who were killed Wednesday, formed the second module. It is believed that Mannu Kusa fired at Moosewala with an AK-47 rifle. The two men were in a car that was trailing Moosewala’s vehicle at Jawahar Ke village in Mansa district.

To a question whether these two gangsters wanted to flee to Pakistan, Yadav said it was a matter of investigation. “We will explore all connections,” he added.

The DGP also said there is a high degree of possibility that the AK-47 rifle recovered from the two slain gangsters was the same weapon used in the singer’s killing.

“But we can say with certainty only after getting its forensic examination done,” he said.

On Satinderjit Singh, alias Goldy Brar, the officer the Interpol has already issued a red corner notice against him. “We are making efforts for his extradition,” he added.

After the killing of Moosewala on May 29, the Canada-based gangster, who is the member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had claimed responsibility for the murder.

With inputs from PTI