On July 20, two gangsters identified as Jagroop Singh Rupa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kussa of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang were killed in an encounter by the anti-gangster task force of the Punjab Police at Bhakna village near Attari border, district Amritsar.
Two sharpshooters allegedly involved in the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, killed in an encounter with @PunjabPoliceInd at Bhakna village in Amritsar district, Wednesday. Express videos: @RanaSimranji @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/J2cjdWRi6g
— Express Punjab (@iepunjab) July 20, 2022
Rupa and Kussa were wanted in the murder of the controversial singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala who was killed on May 29 at Jawahar Ke village near his home in district Mansa this year. Bhagwanpuria allegedly provided two sharpshooters to the main accused, Lawrence Bishnoi, to kill Moosewala.
As per reports, these two were part of the Corolla module that had followed Moosewala in a Corolla car before killing him. During the encounter, three Police Personnel, identified as Sukhdev Singh, Surinderpal Singh and Baljinder Singh, sustained bullet injuries. A camera person from a media house was also reportedly injured. All injured were rushed to a private hospital. Their condition is stable, and the doctors have said they are out of danger.
As per reports, Mannu and Rupa were on the run since the murder of Moosewala. They had re-entered Punjab from Rajasthan and were spotted in CCTV footage that emerged on social media a few days ago. According to ADGP Parmod Ban, the Police got information about their movements in the border belt. Reports suggest that one of their aide Parmadalip Singh was arrested on July 18 in a robbery case. The information provided by him helped Police in tracking the duo. The Police were chasing them when they entered a secluded house in open fields. At around 10:30 AM, the encounter began after Police asked them to surrender, but they opened fire.
The Police cordoned off an area of around 1 KM around the house they were hiding in and instructed the villagers not to come out of their houses. Initially, Police retrained from launching a counter-attack, but the gangsters continued to fire. During the counter-firing, both the gangsters were shot dead. The Police recovered heavy ammunition, including an AK-47 and a pistol, from the spot. Two phones were also recovered, and the call details are being checked to see who aided them in the murder and when they were on the run.
During the investigation of Moosewala’s murder, the Police identified six shooters. Three of them, identified as Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sirsa, were arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police. Only one accused, identified as Deepak Mundi, is still on the run. Mannu was the one who had used an AK-47. However, the Police have not revealed if the AK-47 they recovered was the same that was used to kill Moosewala or not.
A Police Officer told the Indian Express, “Manu and Rupa were in one car, and Manu fired the first burst at Moosewala. Four other shooters in the second module travelled in an SUV, including Priyavrat, Kashish, Ankit Sirsa and Deepak Mundi. The SUV followed the car, and shooters in both vehicles fired at Moosewala. Except for Mundi, the three shooters in the second module have been arrested by the Delhi Police.”
The house where the gangsters hid belongs to one Balwinder Singh Billa, who lives in Bhakna Kalan village with his family, and the house was secluded. The Police are also investigating if there was any connection between the gangsters and the house owner.
