AMRITSAR: A fierce encounter broke out between Punjab Police and two gangsters suspected to have played a role in the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala near Punjab’s Amritsar on Wednesday. According to ANI, a gangster named Jagroop Singh Roopa, a key suspect in singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder, has been killed in a shootout with the police near Amritsar today. Three Punjab policemen have also been injured in the shootout.
According to official sources, the encounter involves two gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa, who were allegedly involved in the killing of the singer, and one of them has been killed. Reports said there were casualties in the exchange of fire at Bhakna village but this could not be immediately confirmed.
The encounter at Bhakna village, 20 km from Amritsar started earlier in the afternoon as Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force had been tailing the two men. The operation is still underway. The entire area has been cordoned off and the locals have been told to stay indoors, they said.
Sidhu Moose Wala, 28, who was a Congress leader besides being a singer-songwriter and rapper, was shot dead near his village Moosa in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29.
A CCTV footage recently surfaced showing Roopa and Kusa riding a bike at Samalsar in Moga district on June 21. Police have identified six shooters who were part of the two modules involved in the killing.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had earlier nabbed three shooters — Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sirsa. Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa were part of the second module.
It is believed that Kusa had fired at Moosewala with an AK-47 rifle. Kusa and Roopa were in a Toyota Corolla car which was trailing Moosewala’s vehicle at Jawahar Ke village in Mansa district on May 29.
After committing the crime, Kusa and Roopa had snatched a car which was later found abandoned in Moga district.