Punjab

On January 12, the Supreme Court had appointed retired top court judge Justice Indu Malhotra to head the committee to investigate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab. Chief Justice N.V. Ramana then had said the panel would inquire into the causes of the security breach, persons responsible for the breach, and also measures to be taken in the future to prevent security breach of the Prime Minister and other constitutional functionaries.

The May 29 Sidhu Moosewala murder has again highlighted this, as sources in the intelligence agencies and police said that Canada-based gangsters are "controlling crime in India". "Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar's name cropped up during the investigation into the Moosewala case. But bringing him back to India is not easy, as the Canadian authorities don't cooperate," a source said.

They were holed up inside a farmhouse and were eliminated in a five hours of exchange of fire. One AK-47 rifle and one pistol were recovered from the encounter site. Moosewala was gunned down on May 29 close to his native village near Mansa in Punjab. The operation was carried out by the Anti-Gangster Task Force at Bhakna village close to the Attari border, where Manpreet Singh, a.k.a. Manu, and Jagroop Singh, a.k.a. Rupa, were holed up.

Mann divorced his first wife, Inderpreet Kaur in 2015, with whom he has two children - 21-year-old daughter Seerat and 17-year-old son Dilshan. Both Seerat and Dilshan were spotted recently when their father took oath as Punjab chief minister in March.  The 48-year-old Aam Aadmi Party leader will tie the knots with Dr. Gurpreet Kaur according to Sikh rituals and the wedding ceremony will take place at his residence in Chandigarh.

Moosewala, 28, was shot dead on May 29 while he was travelling in a car and around a dozen assailants fired over 30 shots at him. He was taken to hospital where doctors declared him 'brought dead'. The Singer's autopsy report revealed that his body bore 19 bullet injury marks. "He confessed that his gang is responsible for the killing (Moosewala's murder) but also said he was not directly behind it as he is lodged in jail.

Brar took to his social media account to claim the responsibility, writing that "he and Lawrence Bishnoi group was behind the murder". "Today, Moosewala was killed in Punjab, I, Sachin Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi take the responsibility. It's our work. Moosewala's name surfaced in our brother Vikramjit Singh Middukhera and Gurlal Brar's murder, but the Punjab Police did not take any action against him.

He was on the wheel in Mahindra Thar SUV when the assailants, believed to be 10-12, fired more than 20 rounds at point-blank range at the singer and his two friends, who got grievous injuries. Moosewala got seven-eight bullets. It is learnt that AK-47 assault rifle was used in the crime as its shells were recovered from the crime scene.

Many aides of the gang have been arrested by Punjab Police in the past. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed shock over the killing and appealed to stay calm. "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the gruesome murder of Sidhu Moosewala. Nobody involved will be spared. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his fans across the world. I appeal everyone to stay calm," Mann tweeted.

The ISI has been offering huge funds to the sleeper cells and OGWs of Khalistan with terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda, hiding in Lahore, coordinating with these elements in Punjab, the sources further said. While the state government and the Railway Protection Forces have been asked to increase the surveillance on the rail network in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the divisional offices of the Indian Railway of the states have been directed to increase patrolling of the tracks with immediate effect.

The state government has recently constituted an AGTF headed by ADGP Pramod Ban, under the supervision of DGP V.K. Bhawra, to intensify action against gangsters. DIG, AGTF, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said accused Charanjit Patialavi, a resident of Patiala district, was declared proclaimed offender on July 23, 2010. However, his associate, Gurmail Singh Boba (now deceased) was arrested in this case along with recovery of detonators and RDX.