Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria seek discharge in Sidhu Moose Wala case
Both the gangsters claim that they were lodged in the jail at the time of the murder and have no physical involvement in the case; Moose Wala was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Mansa on May 29 last year
Months after claiming responsibility for killing Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria on Tuesday moved the Mansa trial court seeking discharge in the murder case claiming they were “not involved” in the killing of the singer.
Moose Wala was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Mansa on May 29 last year.
The counsel for Bishnoi filed an application under Section 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the court of district and sessions judge Preeti Sahni seeking discharge in the murder case. However, Bhagwanpuria’s counsel moved a 235-page application under Section 227 of the CrPC seeking discharge. The public prosecutor sought an adjournment to file a reply to the discharge applications. Following this, the court adjourned the matter for January 5 for the submission of a reply.
Earlier this year, Bishnoi had in two interviews given to a news channel from inside the jail, claimed the responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder.
As per sources, Bishnoi and Bhagwanpuria have now claimed in their applications that they were not involved in the murder. “They were lodged in the jail at the time of the murder and have no physical involvement in the murder,” they added.
Sources said the gangsters have also given reference to a claim made by the jail authorities that they were lodged in a “no network area” and thus can’t be involved in the murder from the jail. “At the same time, referring to their time in Tihar jail, they claimed that they were separated and had no contact with each other,” sources said.
As per information, the SIT had named Bhagwanpuria as an accused in the case after establishing a link through another accused Manmohan Singh Mohana, who was killed in Goindwal jail clash earlier this year. Mohana had confessed that he was in contact with Jaggu and Bishnoi through mobile phones from jail.
On Tuesday, the 24 accused, lodged in separate jails, were produced in the court through video-conferencing. Meanwhile, Monu Dagar was not produced in the court.
The special investigation team (SIT) probing Moose Wala’s murder has filed three chargesheets against 32 accused individuals, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, claiming the murder was a part of a series of revenge killings between the Bishnoi and Bambiha gangs. The SIT has named Bishnoi and Bhagwanpuria as the main conspirators in the murder of Moose Wala, while Goldy Brar as the mastermind.
The SIT chargesheet claims that Bishnoi had taken responsibility for the murder on the social media and even his link was established during interrogation of the shooters. “Bishnoi along with Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria prepared a plan to kill Sidhu Moose Wala,” SIT added.
Meanwhile, the Mansa police are yet to file a supplementary chargesheet against another accused Sachin Thapan Bishnoi, who was extradited from Azerbaijan. However, a supplementary chargesheet against Joga is yet to be committed by the court of Mansa chief judicial magistrate.