PUNJAB Police on Thursday said they have identified four shooters in famous singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder.

Police are carrying out raids to arrest the suspects who have been identified as Priyawarat of Sonepat, his associate Ankit, Manu Kusa of Moga and Jagroop Roopa of Amritsar, Indian media reported.

Moose Wala aka Shubhdeep Singh was gunned down by shooters in Jawaharke village of Mansa district on May 29 while he was driving in his vehicle. His neighbour Gurwinder Singh and cousin Gurpreet Singh were also in the vehicle and sustained injuries.

Police said that a fuel receipt, dated May 25, from a Fatehabad gas station in Haryana state was recovered from the Bolero car which was used in the crime and later found abandoned near Khayala village, 13 km from the scene of the crime. Police collected CCTV footage from the gas station the same day.

Police said that have identified one of the persons in the CCTV footage who is possibly a shooter. He is Priyawarat of Sonepat.

Also, the ownership of the Bolero was traced with the help of engine number and chassis number, police said.

Police say they have recovered all the vehicles used in the crime: a Mahindra Bolero, a Toyota Corolla and a white Alto car. The suspects in the Toyota Corolla, which had got damaged, had carjacked a white Alto car at gunpoint. They then drove towards Khara Barnala village followed by the Bolero. The Alto was found abandoned at 3:30 a.m. on May 30 near Dharamkot in Moga district.

Apart from gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was brought on a production warrant from Delhi’s Tihar Jail, the other nine arrested accused have been identified as Charanjit Singh alias Chetan of Ballram Nagar in Bathinda; Sandeep Singh alias Kekda of Sirsa, Haryana; Manpreet Singh alias Manna of Talwandi Sabo, Bathinda; Manpreet Bhau of Dhaipai, Faridkot; Saraj Mintu of village Dode Kalsia, Amritsar; Prabhdeep Sidhu alias Pabbi of Takhat-Mall, Haryana; Monu Dagar of village Rewli in Sonipat, Haryana; Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb, both residents of Fatehabad, Haryana. All have been arrested for hatching a conspiracy, providing logistic support, conducting recces and harbouring the shooters.

Police said the person on whose name an affidavit of purchase for the Corolla was recovered was not the actual owner but had given his ‘Aadhaar Card’ to Manpreet Manna, a gangster lodged in Ferozepur Jail, and allegedly linked to a Canada-based gangster, the Tribune newspaper of Chandigarh reported.

Manpreet Bhau, who was arrested from Chamoli in Uttarakhand state on May 30 on suspicion of using the Corolla, reportedly revealed during interrogation that he had delivered the car to two suspected shooters identified as Manu Kusa of Moga and Jagroop Singh alias Roopa of Amritsar on the directions of Manpreet Manna. He also revealed that the shooters were provided by Saraj Mintu, who is a close aide of a Canada-based gangster, and Sachin Thapan.

Prabhdeep Sidhu alias Pabbi, who was arrested on June 3, revealed in his interrogation that he had provided shelter to two associates of the Canada-based gangster. He said he helped the associates who had stayed with him to conduct a recce of Sidhu Moose Wala’s house. He had also visited the house and interacted with the security and checked the cameras, etc.

Another suspect, Monu Dagar, a close associate of the Canada-based gangster and Lawrence Bishnoi, was brought on a production warrant. Dagar allegedly confessed to having arranged two shooters — identified as Priyawarat and Ankit, both residents of Sonipat — on the directions of the Canada-based gangster. He also disclosed that Pawan Bishnoi and Naseeb — both residents of Fatehabad — had procured the Bolero from Sadul Shaher and handed it over to the shooters through a person identified as Keshav of Bathinda. He had also provided them a hideout.

Sandeep Kekda, who was arrested on June 6, revealed that his brother Bittu of Kalianwali along with Nikku Takhat Mal of Sirsa in Haryana had been keeping an eye on Moose Wala’s movements. He revealed that on May 29, Bittu had told him to accompany Nikku on his motorcycle to visit Moose Wala’s house and pose as his fans. He confessed that they took a selfie with the singer on Nikku’s mobile phone and the latter made a video call to Sachin Thapan to inform him that Moose Wala had left his house without security and was sitting on the driver’s seat in his black Thar Jeep.

Police said that the investigation so far has revealed that the arrested accused were acting on the directions of the Canada-based gangster and Lawrance Bishnoi, along with Sachin Thapan, Anmol Bishnoi and Vikram Brar (now in Dubai). These gangsters had brazenly claimed responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder through Facebook profiles. Lawrence Bishnoi, the Canada-based gangster and others have been named as accused and conspirators in this case along with their gang members.