Moose Wala murder case: No accused presented in court, Mansa judge pulls up jail authorities

After no accused was presented in the court in singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder case on Thursday, Mansa’s chief judicial magistrate(CJM) pulled up jail authorities directing them to present all the accused on June 28, either physically or through video conferencing.

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

Mansa CJM Surabhi Prashar, in an order, said that the jail authorities have failed to present all those who are in custody in the present case. “Let warrants of these accused be issued again for June 28, and superintendents of jails are directed to produce these accused either physically or through virtual mode,” the judge added.

The SIT had filed two chargesheets against 31 accused, 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.

More than nine months have passed since the Punjab Police filed a chargesheet in the Moose Wala murder case, but the court is yet to frame charges against the accused as producing all of them at the same time through videoconferencing or physically has proved to be a challenge for the authorities.

So far, not more than six accused have been produced in the court on the same day. Even in the past four hearings no accused was present in the court on three occasions.

One of the key accused Lawrence Bishnoi has been presented in the court only once via videoconferencing in the 27 hearings to date.

Of the total of 31 accused, the police had arrested 27 but two of them Mandeep Singh and Manmohan Singh were killed during a clash in Goindwal jail. Four accused --- Goldy Brar, Lipin Nehra, Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, and his nephew Sachin Bishnoi Thapan are absconding and are believed to be abroad. There are 25 accused lodged in jails.

Bishnoi transferred to Bathinda jail

Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was remanded to judicial custody by a Delhi court in an extortion case on Wednesday, was shifted to high-security Bathinda central jail in the wee hours on Thursday at around 1 am.

Delhi’s Mandoli jail administration had appealed to a Delhi court on Sunday to shift Bishnoi to Bathinda jail to avert any threats to the law and order situation in the Delhi prison. The court had agreed to the request and he was shifted after his three-day police remand ended on Wednesday.