Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann orders probe by judicial commission headed by HC judge

New Delhi: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Monday ordered a probe by a judicial commission headed by a high court judge into the brutal killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. The police also detained a suspect in the murder in Uttarakhand.

Mann said: "The Punjab government will request the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court to get the case inquired into by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court."

The announcement came after Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh urged Mann to hand over the probe to CBI and NIA. The newly formed Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has been under attack from the opposition over the deteriorating law and order situation in the border state. Moosewala's killing has given the opposition fresh ammo as Moosewala was killed after his security cover was reduced. The CM said he has ordered an inquiry at the highest level to fix responsibility for Moosewala's security being reduced.


The state government will extend full cooperation to this panel, including roping in any of the central agencies like the NIA, Mann said. Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was among the 424 people whose security was withdrawn or curtailed temporarily by the Punjab Police on Saturday. The family of the deceased singer is hurt by Punjab police's assertion linking the killing to gang war. When the family demanded a public apology from Punjab police chief VK Bhawra, the chief minister said he had directed the DGP to issue a clarification.

A suspect was detained in Dehradun on Monday. The suspect had been hiding among the pilgrims who were part of the Hemkund Sahib yatra in the mountains when a joint Punjab and Uttarakhand police team detained him.