Sidhu Moosewala murder: Punjab Police makes first arrest from Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: The Punjab Police on Tuesday made the first arrest in connection with popular singer Sidhu Mooseala's sensational murder case by formally arresting one suspect from Uttrakhand. According to reports, the Punjab Police have arrested a man identified as Manpreet Singh, who was produced before the court and sent to 5 days of police remand. 

The accused, Manpreet was among the six detained by the cops in a joint raid in Dehradun on Monday. Interestingly, the arrest was made on the day the popular Punjabi singer was cremated in his ancestral village today. 

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead on Sunday - just a day after his security cover was scaled down - by unidentified gunmen in Punjab's Mansa district. The singer, who had also contested the Punjab elections earlier this year on a Congress ticket, was shot 30 times with an automatic assault rifle, the police said.

A sea of mourners today bid a tearful farewell to the popular Punjabi singer, who was cremated at his native village in Mansa district this afternoon. The body of the 28-year-old singer-politician, who was shot dead on Sunday, was brought to his home in Moosa village amid tight security on Tuesday morning from Mansa civil hospital, where the post-mortem was conducted.

Moosewala's family, including his parents, were inconsolable as they sat beside the body at their home. His mother was seen trying to console her husband as people from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chandigarh among other places queued up in large numbers to get a last glimpse of the singer.

Moosewala was dressed as a groom. It is a ritual which is followed in the state when a young unmarried man dies. The mother of Moosewala combed his hair while his father tied a red colour turban along with a 'sehra' on his head. The singer's favourite tractor, which had figured in many of his music videos, was bedecked with flowers for his last ride to a family-owned field for the cremation.

Notwithstanding the scorching heat, mourners joined the funeral procession as Moosewala's father and mother stood on the tractor trolley with folded hands, accompanying their son on his final journey. The singer's father, Balkour Singh, even took off his turban and held it out in his hands to express his gratitude to the sea of mourners. Some of his fans wore t-shirts with Moosewala's picture printed on them.

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring was present during the funeral procession. Earlier, Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa and BJP leaders including state unit chief Ashwani Sharma, Subhash Sharma and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi met the family of Moosewala to condole the death.

A heavy police force was deployed at the slain singer's residence as well as at the cremation site. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday announced setting up a judicial commission headed by a sitting high court judge to probe the brutal killing of Sidhu Moosewala.