Moose Wala murder: Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria, among 25 others to go on trial from Aug 9

Nearly 11 months after the Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) filed the first chargesheet against gangsters in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder case, the court of chief judicial magistrate Mansa Surabhi Prashar on Wednesday committed the chargesheets to the sessions court.

The trial against 25 accused, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, will start in the Mansa district and sessions court on August 9. The jail authorities on Wednesday presented all 25 accused in the court through video conferencing.

“The offence under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC are exclusively triable by the court of sessions. Therefore, the present case is committed to the court of sessions judge, Mansa, for August 9, and accused persons are directed to appear before the court on the said date so that arguments on charge against all the accused can be heard together,” said CJM Surabhi Prashar.

Following this order, the Mansa district and sessions court will start the process to frame charges against the accused next month.

Moose Wala was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29 last year.

Gangster Goldy Brar, who is a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had claimed responsibility for the murder terming it revenge for the killing of Youth Akali Dal leader Vicky Middukhera, who was shot dead in 2021.

The police had identified the six shooters as Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish, Ankit Sersa and Deepak Mundi of the Haryana module. Manpreet Singh alias Mannu and Jagroop Singh alias Roopa of Punjab module. Mannu and Roopa were killed in an encounter with Punjab police in Amritsar on July 20 last year.

SIT probing Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder has filed two chargesheets against 31 accused individuals, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria claiming the murder was part of a series of revenge killings between the Bishnoi and Bambiha gangs. The probe team revealed a history of retaliatory killings, with each gang seeking vengeance for its members’ deaths.

On August 26, last year, the probe team filed a 1,850-page chargesheet against 24 persons, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, while a supplementary chargesheet was filed on December 5 against seven accused.

Of the total 31 accused, the police have arrested 27. Two of them Mandeep Singh and Manmohan Singh were killed during a clash in Goindwal jail in February. Four accused, including Goldy Brar, are absconding and are believed to be abroad. There are 25 accused lodged in various jails.

Police have filed chargesheet under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 427 (mischief), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 109 (abets any offence), 473 (possessing counterfeit seal), 212 (harbouring offender), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections of the Arms Act.