New Delhi (IANS): The Delhi High Court will on Wednesday hear the plea filed by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, named as a suspect in the sensational murder of famed Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, alleging apprehension of a fake encounter by the Punjab Police for ‘political mileage’.
Through his counsel Vishal Chopra, Bishnoi approached the high court after a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court of Patiala House Court rejected his plea on Monday. In the plea, he sought direction to the Delhi Police and the Tihar Jail authorities to ensure all necessary security arrangements for him.
The petitioner sought the court’s direction to central jail authorities to give prior intimation to his counsels before his custody is given to any other state police on any production warrant. He should be duly handcuffed, shackled and video-graphed during the production warrant and on transit remand if any warrant is produced by the Punjab Police for the safety of his life, the plea stated.
The Punjab Police has alleged that Bishnoi was involved in the murder of Moose Wala.
His plea stated that the accused is entitled to a fair and true investigation and a fair trial and the prosecution is expected to play a balanced role in the trial of a crime. The investigation should be judicious, fair, transparent and expeditious and the investigating authority should ensure the safety of any accused person.
“Fair trial includes fair investigation as envisaged by Articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The role of the police is to be for the protection of life, liberty and property of citizens, that investigation of offences being one of its foremost duties. That the aim of investigation is ultimately to search for truth and to bring the offender to book,” the plea stated.
Currently lodged in Tihar Jail in a MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) case, Bishnoi is allegedly involved in more than five dozen criminal cases lodged against him in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. He had once threatened to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
As per reports, a Canada-based gangster and Bishnoi have claimed responsibility for the murder of Moose Wala. The singer was shot dead by gangsters close to his ancestral village in Mansa in Punjab in broad daylight on Sunday.
Moose Wala’s killing has sparked a huge political controversy and the Punjab Government is at the receiving end for reducing his security by half.
MEANWHILE, Moose Wala’s parents hugged their son’s coffin as they bid a tearful goodbye to the slain singer on Tuesday afternoon.
Pictures and videos on social media showed Moosewala’s mother hugging the glass casket in which his body was kept. The mother could not stop looking at her son’s body. His father broke down and she turned to wipe his tears.
A sea of fans and mourners gathered at the singer’s village Moosa for the cremation.
MANPREET Singh, the first arrest in the killing of famed singer-turned-politician Sidhu Moosewala was produced before a Mansa court in Punjab on Tuesday and was sent to police custody for five days.
A team of Punjab Police along with sleuths of the Uttarakhand Special Task Force had arrested Manpreet Singh in Dehradun on Monday. He is suspected of providing “key logistical support” in the murder of the Punjabi singer.
Singh, a resident of Faridkot in Punjab, was reportedly trying to hide among pilgrims, who were scheduled to go on a yatra to Hemkund in Chamoli district when the police nabbed him.
