By PTI
CHANDIGARH: Several mourners gathered at the residence of slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in Punjab’s Mansa district on Tuesday morning as the family prepared to conduct his last rites.
Accompanied by some relatives, Moose Wala’s father received his son’s body from Mansa Civil hospital, where it was kept for post-mortem, around 8:15 am.
The body has been taken to his residence at Moosa village in Mansa.
The last rites of Moosewala, who was killed on Sunday, will be performed on Tuesday.
A heavy police force has been deployed outside the residence of the slain Punjabi singer.
Mourners, especially the youth and the singer’s fans, assembled outside the house to pay their last respects.
Several people raised slogans in his favour.
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead on Sunday by unidentified assailants in Punjab’s Mansa district, a day after the state government curtailed his security cover.
His cousin and a friend, who were travelling in a Mahindra Thar jeep with him, were also injured in the attack.
The 28-year-old Punjabi singer had fought the recent assembly election in Punjab on a Congress ticket from Mansa and was defeated by the AAP’s Vijay Singla.
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Moosewala was among the 424 people whose security was withdrawn or curtailed by the Punjab Police on Saturday on a temporary basis.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced setting up a judicial commission headed by a sitting high court judge to probe the brutal killing of Sidhu Moosewala.
The state police on Monday claimed to have rounded up some suspects and got important leads in connection with the killing.
It had termed the assassination a case of an inter-gang rivalry and that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was behind the killing.
Congress on Monday demanded a probe by a central agency such as the CBI or the NIA monitored by a high court judge.
Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil demanded answers from the AAP government in Punjab, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on why the order downgrading Moosewala’s security was made public on social media as a “publicity stunt” and on what grounds was his security downgraded.
He alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has totally failed in Punjab and that law and order has become a casualty in the state.
Gohil said due to the Punjab government’s inept handling of the law-and-order situation, the young life of a promising singer was lost and those responsible for it should be punished.
He expressed pain and sadness over Moose Wala’s killing, saying no government can bring someone back to life.
“My question is on whose assessment was the security of Sidhu Moosewala downgraded? The government should answer,” Gohil said while pointing out that whenever security is provided to anyone, it is done on the basis of a threat perception made by security agencies.
“Why was the order for security downgrading of Moosewala made public on social media? Why was the issue of Sidhu Moosewala’s security downgrading used by a political party as a publicity stunt?” the Congress leader asked.
He alleged that the issue of law and order is not being taken seriously by the AAP government as the Punjab DGP had earlier said Moosewala’s killing was a result of a “gang war” but later, apologised over the remarks.
It only shows how seriously law and order is being taken by the AAP government in Punjab, Gohil said.
“We demand that the family’s desire for holding an inquiry by a sitting judge should be acceded to. We demand that there should be a thorough and independent investigation by the CBI or the NIA and it should be supervised by a high court judge to ascertain the truth behind the killing,” he added.
The matter on who ordered the downgrading of Moosewala’s security and on whose recommendation it was done should also be investigated and the guilty should be punished, Gohil said.
“There should be an independent investigation under the supervision of a high court judge, a demand put forth by Moosewala’s family too,” he added.
Punjab is at the forefront in the country in terms of progress, service in the Army and patriotism and the state has its own identity, but due to the situation prevailing there over the last few days, law and order has become a casualty and everyone is pained over it, the Congress leader said.
He said Congress workers in Punjab, Delhi and Jammu have protested against the AAP government in Punjab over the killing of Moosewala, who had contested the state Assembly polls held earlier this year on a Congress ticket.
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Congress demanded Mann’s resignation over Moose Wala’s killing.
“When a public figure is murdered in broad daylight on the streets of Punjab, is anybody really safe? Bhagwant Mann once said it is the CM’s duty to protect all those in Punjab. Today, he has failed in his duty,” the party wrote on Twitter, using the hashtag #ResignBhagwantMann.
Stepping up the attack on the AAP government, the Punjab Youth Congress also held a protest against the ruling party.
Several protesters were detained when they tried to “gherao” the office of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here.
The famous Punjabi singer and Congress leader Moosewala was shot dead on Sunday by unidentified assailants in Punjab’s Mansa district, a day after the state government pruned his security cover.
Meanwhile, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said a “frightening” atmosphere is prevailing across the state after the brutal daylight murder of Moose Wala.
“Nobody is feeling safe as this government has left people at the mercy of criminals and gangsters who are killing people at their sweet will,” he said in a statement here.
He said it was a “complete failure” of the government, particularly the police, as they did not have any clue about the murder of a prominent figure.
After meeting family members of the slain singer in Mansa, Warring said the way the murder was executed with so many people firing from different sides, it must have been duly planned in advance.
“What was the Punjab Police doing,” he asked while adding that there might be so many people involved in the planning and execution of the murder and yet police could not get any inkling of the incident in advance.
Warring said the daring daylight assassination had created an atmosphere of fear and fright across the state among people who are not feeling safe anymore.
“Added to that was the DGP Punjab’s admission that the killing was the handiwork of the gangsters,” he said.
The DGP himself admits that the gangsters are in a position to execute such a daring assassination of such a prominent person without getting caught, he said.
The state Congress president reiterated his demand for the dismissal of the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying, “Bhagwant Mann has not just proved to be a failure but a complete disaster pushing the state to virtual anarchy.”
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Warring warned in case the gangster culture is not nipped in the bud, “Punjab will turn into badlands like some other states of the country used to be in the past”.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh also hit out at the Bhagwant Mann-led government and said, “It has been a complete collapse of the AAP government’s intelligence and security network that has been reflected in more than two dozen murder incidents involving public figures.”
Chugh said CM Mann, who holds the portfolio of Home affairs, owes an explanation to the state why information about security was made public.
“Are you looking for cheap publicity making the border state vulnerable to the Pakistan ISI designs,” he asked.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said youth icon Moose Wala would not have been lost but for the wrong decisions of the AAP government.
He said the chief minister had not only taken a unilateral decision to withdraw Moose Wala’s security but also advertised this fact on the AAP Facebook page by asserting that this was a victory against the VVIP culture.
“This kind of cheap politics is condemnable,” said Badal.
