Bathinda: Police have arrested six people in connection with the Sept 13 firing at the house of Punjabi singer Gulab Sidhu at Pharwahi village in Barnala , claiming it to be the work of a gang linked to foreign-based extortionists .




Two suspected shooters, identified as Gurwinder Singh and Gurpiar Singh, both from Sangrur, were apprehended on Tuesday after an encounter, police said.




Addressing the media in Barnala Tuesday, Patiala Range DIG Kuldeep Singh Chahal , Barnala SSP Mohd Sarfaraz Alam and counter-intelligence AIG Simrat Kaur said a police party signalled the duo to stop at Pakho Kalan village on Barnala-Mansa road but they headed to a link road.




“The pillion rider fired at the police party, forcing the police to retaliate. Gurwinder suffered a bullet injury on his right leg while Gurpiar was injured after their motorcycle skidded off the road,” the police officers said. Both are admitted to Barnala civil hospital.




Police said four other suspects — identified as Gurvinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Ramanpreet Singh and Gaurav Sharma — were arrested from different locations on Sept 21. An Ertiga car, one .30-bore pistol with two live cartridges and an unregistered motorcycle were recovered from them.




Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were in contact with foreign-based criminal elements for extortion and fired at the residence to spread panic and were planning another criminal act. Sidhu was abroad when the incident occurred. He was a close associate of late singer Sidhu Moose Wala , who was gunned down in Mansa on May 29, 2022.




Foreign-based criminal elements had subsequently claimed responsibility for the firing incident through social media.




Nine accused were identified and booked in the case.




Police said two 9 mm pistols, eight live cartridges, five empty cartridges and motorcycle used in the crime were recovered. A separate case has been registered at Rureke Kalan police station .




In a coordinated operation with CIA staff, Sangrur, police also arrested Amritpal Singh alias Ambri and Sunny, who had allegedly conducted reconnaissance of Sidhu’s residence. One country-made .32-bore pistol and five cartridges were recovered from Amritpal.