Emotions ran high when bullet-riddled Thar of slain Punjabi singer Moose Wala bearing a photograph of him with his mother on one side was on Friday produced in the court of Mansa sessions judge H S Grewal on Friday for identification by a key witness.
On May 29, 2022, Moose Wala was driving the vehicle when assailants in two vehicles gunned him down.
Gurpreet Singh, who along with another witness Gurwinder Singh was accompanying Moose Wala on the fateful day, identified the Thar and an assault rifle AK-47 produced in the court. Police had claimed to have recovered the weapon from the vehicle of the two alleged shooters, Manpreet Singh alais Manu and Jagroop Singh alias Rupa, after killing them in an encounter on July 20, 2022.
During the court hearing, the examination of key witness Gurpreet Singh was completed. Defence counsel R S Behniwal, representing gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and 18 other accused in the case, concluded the cross-examination too. The counsel said that the four accused named as shooters were not present at the crime scene, claiming their names were added as an afterthought by the police. Gurpreet Singh was asked to appear on Sept 27 for cross-examination by the counsel for Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, another accused.
Public prosecutor Harvinder Singh assisted by counsels Bimaljit Singh and Satinder Pal Singh said the witness identified the weapon used in the crime and the Thar in which Moose Wala was travelling. During the last hearing on Aug 30, Gurpreet Singh had identified four alleged shooters Priyavarat Fauji, Kashish, Deepak Mundi and Ankit Sersa.