Highlights
- Shooter Santosh Jadhav is a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang
- He was on the run for a year, police said
- Jadhav's aide is also a suspect in the Moose Wala murder case
Sidhu Moose Wala death: Santosh Jadhav, a shooter in the Punjabi Singer Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, has been arrested by the Pune police. According to an official, the police also apprehended Jadhav’s aide, a suspect in the Moose Wala murder case. Jadhav, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has been detained in a 2021 murder case registered at Manchar police station in Pune district, the official said.
He was on the run for a year. His and one Nagnath Suryavanshi's name cropped up in the Moose Wala murder probe, the official said.
Pune rural police intensified their search and arrested Siddhesh Kamble alias Mahakal, accused of sheltering Jadhav after the 2021 murder case.
Pune rural police arrested Mahakal, a member of the Bishnoi gang, last week in a case of MCOCA registered against him at Manchar police station. He was also interrogated by Delhi Police Special Cell and Punjab Police in connection with the Moose Wala murder case.
Mumbai Police also grilled Mahakal in connection with a threat letter to scriptwriter Salim Khan and his actor-son Salman Khan.
Pune rural sent multiple teams to Gujarat and Rajasthan last week to trace Jadhav, the official said.
Kamble knew about conspiracy to kill Moosewala: Investigators
Mahakal knew that Sidhu Moosewala was going to be murdered and was in touch with gangster Vikram Brar a week before the killing, investigators said.
"Mahakal was not directly involved in the attack on Moosewala. But as per the information we have received, he knew that Moosewala will be murdered as Vikram Brar had discussed Moose Wala with him," said a senior police officer of Maharashtra police.
He added that Mahakal was in touch with Brar a week before the actual killing on May 29.
Brar is a close aide of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who is currently in the custody of Delhi Police.
To avoid being tracked down by investigation agencies, the members of the Bishnoi gang used social media platforms and an encrypted messaging app to communicate with each other and also used code words, the official said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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