Sidhu Moosewala's father lauds Punjab Police for killing his son's killers, says THIS

Amritsar/Chandigarh: Singer Sidhu Moosewala's father on Thursday praised the Punjab Police for gunning down the gangsters allegedly involved in the murder of his son, in an encounter near Amritsar on Wednesday. Balkaur Singh reached the Amritsar civil hospital where he was shown the bodies of slain gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa.

These criminals were killed in a nearly five-hour-long encounter at a village in Amritsar on Wednesday. Three policemen and a journalist were also injured during the operation.

Speaking briefly to reporters in Amritsar, Singh said, "Police did its action and I appreciate its work. It is just the beginning and it is a long fight." He said “police action against criminals should continue.” Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district on May 29.

The police held gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as the "mastermind" behind the killing. According to the police, the singer's murder was in retaliation to youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera's killing that took place last year.

The Punjab Police said that it wanted to catch alive the two gangsters allegedly involved in singer Sidhu Moosewala's murder and had asked them to surrender but they did not stop firing.

Gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa were killed in a nearly five-hour-long encounter with the Punjab Police on Wednesday. They hid in a building in Bhakna village near the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar, according to police.

Amritsar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) M S Bhullar said police had asked the two gangsters to surrender. "We wanted to catch them alive. But when they did not stop firing, they were killed in the exchange of fire," he told reporters in Amritsar.

Replying to a question, Bhullar said the gangsters were dropped at the building by a vehicle and efforts are being made to trace it. "During a search by forensic teams, 31 rounds of AK-47, a 45-bore pistol and two magazines were recovered from the building (where the gangsters were gunned down)," the DCP said.

A broken mobile has also been recovered and the forensic teams will examine it, he said. On Wednesday, police recovered an AK-47 rifle and a 9 mm pistol from the gangsters.