Month: May 2022

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced a judicial probe under a sitting judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to investigate the killing of singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead yesterday as he drove past the Jawaharke village of Mansa district. The gruesome incident took place two days after Punjab Police withdrew the security cover of 424 persons including him. The singer had joined the Congress last year in December ahead of the Assembly elections.

The Chief Minister said that a judicial commission will probe the murder case.

“CM Bhagwant Mann announces to set up judicial commission under the sitting judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court to probe the killing of Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moose Wala,” Punjab Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a tweet.

The Chief Minister also said that the perpetrators of the heinous crime will be behind the bars soon.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder in a Facebook post on Sunday evening. Goldy Brar is a close aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, who is also said to be involved in the singer’s murder.

Punjab Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons after Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jawaharke village of Mansa district.

The FIR has been registered under sections 302, 307, and 341 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act at City-1 at Mansa Police Station.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Special Cell earlier today said that it will probe the role of those linked with gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, after Canada-based Brar claimed responsibility for the recent murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Delhi Police said that it has been investigating Brar for allegedly planning several murders.

Punjab BJP has blamed Bhagwant Mann-led government for the singer’s death and demanded an independent National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe. (ANI)

Jammu and Kashmir police along with security forces neutralized two terrorists of the proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in an anti-terrorist operation in Pulwama including the killer of police personnel Ct Reyaz Ahmad, said the police on Monday.

On a specific input generated by Kulgam Police regarding the presence of terrorists in village Gundipora area of Pulwama on Sunday evening, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Pulwama Police, Army and CRPF in the said area, said the police.

The killed terrorists were identified as Abid Hussain Shah and Saqib Azad Sofi, affiliated with JeM.

Incriminating materials including two AK rifles were retrieved from the site of the encounter. (ANI)

After the Chinese firms involved in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) warned of shutting down their projects in the country due to an increase in fuel prices, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is proactively engaged in the resolution of issues.

Official documents reveal that the following Chinese Companies complained about delays in payments by CPPA-G and NTDC: (i) 1320MW Sahiwal IPP;(ii) 1320MW Port Qasim IPP;(iii) 1320MW China Hub IPP;(iv) 660MW Engro Thar lPP;(v) 300MW Zonergy IPP;(vi) 100MW UEP Wind Farm;(vii) 50MW Dawood Wind Farm;(viii) 50MW Sachal Wind Farm;(ix) 100MW China Three Gorges Wind Farm; and (x) Lahore-Matiari HVDC Transmission Line, reported Business Recorder.

The companies stressed that the increase in fuel prices had worsened their liquidity situation, forcing them to shut down their plants.

Shehbaz Sharif has speeded up the resolution of issues facing the Chinese companies including those working in power sector projects, well-informed sources told Business Recorder.

Prime Minister’s Office, sources said, has convened a preparatory meeting on Monday (today) with all the Ministries concerned.

Power Division stated that 86 per cent of the bills had been paid and efforts were underway to make further payments to the IPPs, reported Business Recorder.

Insiders claim that the outstanding payables to Chinese IPPs have reached over Rs 350 billion.

Another key issue highlighted during the meeting was the delay in the opening of a revolving account for CEPC IPPs.

The following companies raised the issue stating that the non-fulfilment of this contractual obligation was creating difficulties for them: (i) 1320MW Sahiwal IPP ;(ii) 1320MW Port Qasim IPP;(iii) 1320MW China Hub IPP;(iv) 300 MW Zonergy IPP;(v) 660MW Engro Thar IPP;(vi) 100MW China Three Gorges Wind Farm.

The meeting decided that Power Division and Finance Division will expedite action for a final decision on the opening of the Revolving Account.

The following project raised the matter of issues in Financial Close due to no clearance from Sinosure: (i) 1320MW TCB-1; (ii) 300MW Gwadar power plant; (iii) 700MW Azad Pattan HPP; and (iv) 1124MW Kohala HPP. It was decided that this matter will be raised with the Chinese embassy, reported Business Recorder.

The following companies agitated the matter of increase of Sales Tax on imports from 0 per cent to 17 per cent in Supplementary Finance Act 2021- 2022: (i) 700MW Azad Pattan HPP ;(ii) 1124 MW Kohala HPP;(iii) 884MW Suki Kinari HPP;(iv) 1320 MW TCB-I;(v) 300MW Gwadar IPP;(vi) 330MW TEL;( and (vii) 330MW Thal Nova. Power Division has been directed to take this issue with the FBR.

The following companies suggested that GOP may consider the central purchasing of imported coal for efficient negotiation; (i) 1320MW Sahiwal IPPs; (ii) l320MW Port Qasim IPP; and (iii) 1320MW China Hub IPP. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission (DCPC) stated that the suggestion may be considered by the relevant authorities, reported Business Recorder.

Moreover, multiple Chinese companies raised issues relating to delays in the issuance of visas, as well as, problems relating to the conversion of business visas into work visas for Chinese workers of CPEC projects, reported Business Recorder. (ANI)

Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday said that it will probe the role of those linked with gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, after Canada-based Brar claimed responsibility for the recent murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Delhi Police said that it had been investigating Brar for allegedly planning several murders and attempts to murder from Canada.
The police further said that, despite Brar living outside the country and Lawrence sitting in jail, the gangsters were still able to plan murders in the country.

Other key associates of the gang Kala Jathedi, Monty and Kala Rana. Raja Monty who is residing in London, Kala Rana were allegedly involved in 30 murders. Rana was extradited to India from Thaliand and was arrested by DCP Chandra’s team in March.

Earlier today, Delhi Police suspected that the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala could be a result of the killing of Vikramjit alias Vicky Middukhera.

According to the Delhi police special cell, both Moose Wala and his manager were involved in the murder of Vicky in August last year.

Special Cell of Delhi Police recently became aware of the nexus of notorious gangster Neeraj Bawania and Tillu Tajpuria. Bawania and Tajpuria teamed up with different gangsters Kaushal Chaudhary, Davinder Bhambia, and Lucky Patial from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Delhi Police had arrested about a dozen miscreants of this five-member gang in connection with the murder of Vicky.

Those arrested were identified as sharpshooter Sajjan Singh alias Bholu, Anil Kumar alias Lath and Ajay Kumar alias Sunny Kaushal. During interrogation, the arrested trio had revealed about the involvement of a Moose Wala and his manager in the Vicky murder case.

As per reports, Vicky was a close friend of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who is serving time in jail in Bharatpur, Rajasthan since 2017 for various crimes.

In a post on his purported Facebook page, gangster Bishnoi has taken responsibility for the murder of singer Moose Wala.

A few days ago a criminal namely Shahrukh was arrested by Delhi Police. He was found to be using a messaging app to communicate from jail with Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, who has claimed responsibility for the death of the singer.

Moose Wala, who was shot at in Punjab’s Mansa on Sunday, was brought dead to the hospital, said Dr Ranjeet Rai, Civil Surgeon, Mansa Hospital.

The incident took place a day after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab police among 424 others. Notably, the singer had joined the Congress party last year in December ahead of the Assembly elections. (ANI)

On the eve of Somvati Amavasya devotees thronged the bank of Ganga to take a holy dip in the water today, the day is considered to be one of the most important days in the Hindu religion.

Taking note of the event, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar talked about the heavy rush at the holy site and informed about police preparedness to handle this situation.
He says, “Since Kumbh in 2021, this has been the first holy bath at such a huge scale in Haridwar. This is the first holy bath since Corona struck us. I estimate around 15 lakh devotees have taken the holy bath and by the end of the day, the number could reach 35-40 lakh.”

“We have deployed strong police protection at the site. We’ve divided the police force into 5 super-zone, 15 zone and 39 sectors. Around 2000 police personnel have been deployed in Haridwar alone,” he added.

Talking about the measures they’ve taken to manage the crowd in an efficient way, the Uttarakhand DGP said, “Yesterday there was a heavy rush with traffic at Har Ki Pauri but we managed the situation well without any casualties. To manage the rush, we had to wake devotees up at midnight to take the holy bath. Also, we had to divert people from Har Ki Pauri to other ghats, during the peak time at 5-6 am, requesting them to hold the ritual along other ghats adjacent to the holy Ganga.”

Shravan, the fifth month in the Hindu calendar, is considered to be the most auspicious month of the year. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva who, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is the creator, preserver, and destroyer of this universe. (ANI)

The Nepal Army on Monday physically located the site where a Nepalese private airlines plane crashed on Sunday.

“Search and rescue troops have physically located the plane crash site. Details will be followed,” the Nepal Army Spokesperson said in a tweet.
Tara Air’s 9 NAET twin-engine aircraft with 22 people on board, including four Indians, was found crashed in Kowang village of the Mustang district hours after it went missing in the mountainous district on Sunday morning.

Earlier today, Nepal Army said, “Rescue effort to search plane of Tara Air was resumed.”

On Sunday, all the helicopters deployed for the search of the crashed aircraft were called off after the snowfall in Mustang district.

“Due to the snowfall at the possible air crash site, the search and rescue operation has been called off for today. All the helicopters deployed for search and rescue operations have been called back to bases,” Premnath Thakur, General Manager of Tribhuvan International Airport said.

According to the information given by the locals to the Nepal Army, the Tara Air plane crashed at the mouth of the Lamche river under the landslide of Manapathi Himal. Army spokesperson Narayan Silwal said that the Nepal Army was moving towards the site from the ground and air route.

On Sunday morning, the twin-engine aircraft, flying from Pokhara to Jomsom at 9:55 am, had lost contact, after reaching the Lete area of Mustang, said the Airport authorities. As per the State TV, the missing aircraft was hosting 4 Indians among others.

“The aircraft was seen over the sky of Jomsom in Mustang and then had diverted to Mt. Dhaulagiri after which it hadn’t come into contact,” Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma confirmed ANI over the phone.

As per the police officials, the aircraft has been suspected to have crashed in the “Titi” area of Lete in Mustang District.

“Locals from Titi have called and informed us that they have heard an unusual sound as if there was some bang. We are deploying a helicopter to the area for the search operation,” Ram Kumar Dani, DSP of District Police Office, Mustang told ANI.

The Nepal Home Ministry has deployed two private helicopters from Mustang and Pokhara for the search for missing aircraft. Nepal Army chopper is also being prepared to be deployed for the search, said Phadindra Mani Pokharel, spokesperson at Home Ministry told ANI over the phone.

Mustang (from the Tibetan Muntan meaning “fertile plain”) the traditional region is largely dry and arid. The world’s deepest gorge that goes down three miles vertically between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna mountains runs through this district. (ANI)

From starting his singing career with the duet song ‘G Wagon’ to tasting fame with the hit 2017 song ‘So High’, singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead on Sunday, had carved a niche for himself with his controversial lyrical style in a relatively shorter span.

Last year, he unveiled his track ‘295’, which expressed his opinion on section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — “Injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class”.
“Dharman de naam te debate milugi. Sach bolega taan milu 295 Je karega tarakki putt hate milugi. (Debates on religion will end up your day. Speak the truth you get 295. Successful ones have hate on their way),” the song’s lyrics read.

Strangely, the particular track began to resurface following the untimely demise of Sidhu Moose Wala on Sunday, i.e May 29.

Several netizens found an uncanny coincidence between Sidhu Moose Wala’s death date and the title of the song.

Actor Aly Goni tweeted, “And today’s date is 29/5 #shocking #sidhumoosewala #legend.”

“295 song. Today’s date “29,5”2022 will forever be remembered. Sidhu Moose Wala,” a Twitter user wrote.

“What a coincidence, 295 by Sidhu moose wala is one of his most famous songs.

And today is 29/5. 28 years young, he had so much awaiting for him, life truly is unpredictable,” another one tweeted.

Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in a firing incident in Punjab’s Mansa district on Sunday. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead. The shocking incident happened after the Punjab government had withdrawn the security for him and more than 420 other people.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar reportedly claimed responsibility for the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala in a Facebook post. Goldy Brar is a close aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, who is also said to be involved in the singer’s murder. (ANI)

Congress leader and Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead on Sunday, a day after his security was withdrawn by the state police. However, it is to be pondered upon, what made the Punjabi singing fame surrounded by controversies.

Born on 17 June 1993, Moosewala, whose real name is Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, belongs to the Moosewala village which is situated in Punjab’s Mansa district. Moose Wala enjoyed stardom only a few could imagine at a young age in the twenties of his life. He learned music during his college days and after completing his education, he moved to Canada.

However, being widely known for his ‘gangster rap’, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

He was widely popular among the youth having 6.9 million followers on Instagram. However, his stardom was often overtaken by the controversies surrounding him for promoting drugs and violence through his songs.

For instance, one of his songs titled ‘Jatti Jeone Morh Wargi’ came under the scanner as it made a reference to the 18th-century Sikh warrior Mai Bhago.

Many FIRs were also registered against Moose Wala for promoting violence and hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikh community. However, he had issued an apology later on after people slammed him for portraying the Sikh warrior in a poor light.

Moose Wala was booked after the pictures of him with an AK-47 went viral on social media during the COVID pandemic.

Later, he was also booked by the Punjab police under the Arms Act after being charged with the promotion of gun culture in 2020. The action was taken for one of his songs ‘Panj Goliyan’.

It is notable, that he extended his support to the farmers’ protest at the Delhi borders that went on for more than a year.

The controversies didn’t end here as in July 2020, another song titled ‘Sanju’ similarly kicked off a controversy. In the song, he had compared himself with Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.

Last year only, a criminal case was filed against Moose Wala and five police personnel, after a video showing him shooting at a firing range went viral on social media.

Stepping into politics in December 2021, the Punjabi singer joined the Congress party and also contested from Mansa, however, he lost.

He was shot dead on Sunday evening in Mansa. (ANI)

Punjab Director-General of Police VK Bhawra on Sunday informed that the jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang was involved in Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder. Gang member- Lucky, has taken responsibility for the murder.

He further said that a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the matter. Bhawra also informed that Moose Wala had a private bulletproof car and two police commandos, which he did not take along today.

Addressing a press conference, Punjab DGP said, “Lawrence Bishnoi gang is involved in this murder. Lucky, a member of the gang has taken responsibility from Canada. Three weapons were used.”

“He had four commandos from Punjab Police out of which two were taken back but he was having two commandos which Moose Wala didn’t take along with him today. Sidhu Moose Wala had a private bulletproof car that he didn’t take with him,” he added.

“After leaving his home, when Sidhu Moose Wala was driving his car along with two others in Mansa district, two cars came from front and firing took place. He was injured and was taken to hospital where he was brought dead. It seems like an inter-gang rivalry. On the orders of the Chief Minister, the Inspector General range has been directed to form a Special Investigation Team. SSP Mansa and SSP Bathinda have been deployed there. ADG law and order has mobilised additional forces,” Bhawra said.

Moose Wala, who was shot at in Punjab’s Mansa on Sunday, was brought dead to the hospital, said Dr Ranjeet Rai, Civil Surgeon, Mansa Hospital.

The Congress leader was shot at by unknown people earlier today.

The incident took place a day after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab police among 424 others.

Notably, the singer had joined the Congress party last year in December ahead of the Assembly elections. (ANI)