LUDHIANA: Nephew of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Nirmal Singh Kahlon, who is former Punjab assembly speaker, was on Saturday arrested by the Ludhiana police in connection with the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala. The arrested accused, on the instructions of gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, had helped three 'suspected shooters' reach Bathinda with weapons by taking the help of his friend, Satbir Singh of Amritsar, who has already been arrested.
The accused, Sandeep Singh Kahlon, alias Sona, who is a panchayat secretary at Hargobindpur in Gurdaspur, was held by Ludhiana police near Barewal canal and remanded to three-day police custody. Ludhiana's deputy commissioner of police (investigation) Varinder Singh Brar said, "During the investigation of the Sidhu Moose Wala murder, the police noticed a Toyota Fortuner with suspected shooters at a filling station in Bathinda on June 19 in CCTV footage.
"While tracing that SUV, we arrested the SUV's owner Satbir Singh on June 30 with an illegal pistol. During the questioning, Satbir revealed that he had dropped the three suspected shooters, two of whom have been identified as Mandeep Singh Toofan and Manpreet Singh Mani, on the directions of his friend Sandeep Kahlon."
Satbir had also revealed Kahlon had given him an illegal pistol for his "personal safety" after Moose Wala's murder and he was also arranging a fake passport for him.
Kahlon and Satbir own stud farms and are very close friends. Kahlon has told the police that gangster Bhagwanpuria had asked him to help Toofan, Mani and their associate reach Bathinda.
During initial questioning, Kahlon told police he had asked Satbir to drop off suspected shooters with weapons, on the directions of gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is already in the custody of Mansa police on transit remand from Delhi.
Satbir had also told the police that Kahlon had addressed the 'suspected shooters' as his friends. Satbir said he came to know their names near Harike when he was instructed not to drive via bypass to avoid a police check post. After he objected, the suspected shooters got offended and introduced themselves and told him to Google their details.
