Punjab gangster shot dead in Manila as bloody gang war spills over to foreign soil

Rajinder S. Taggar

New Delhi, Aug 26: Punjab gangster Mandeep Singh Dhariwal was shot dead in the Philippines capital, Manila, on Thursday in a fallout of the ongoing bloody rivalry between the dreaded Lawrence Bishnoi and Davinder Bambiha gangs.

According to a claim made by Canada-based Godly Brar owing allegiance to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang on his Facebook page today, Mandeep was shot dead to avenge the killing of Jagroop Singh Rupa and Manpreet Singh in a 5-hour encounter near Amritsar by the Punjab police in July.

The Goldy Brar gang suspects Mandeep to be the informer of the Punjab police in the case.

"These petty gangsters (read Bambiha gang) have been posting various claims on social media. I will avenge the killing of Jagroop Singh Rupa and Manpreet Mannu. The revenge will be such that it will find a mention in history," Goldy Brar said in a video, posted on what is believed to be his Facebook account.

Brar claimed that he had urged Rupa and Mannu to surrender but they refused and fought like "deadly lions".

Rupa and Mannu, both sharpshooters, were involved in the murder of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in the Mansa district of Punjab on June 29.

Godly Brar had earlier taken the responsibility of killing Moosewala as the latter was alleged to have been involved in the daylight murder of Vicky Midhukhera in Mohali. Middukhera belonged to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and was allegedly collecting extortion money from industrialists and Pollywood singers on behalf of the gang.

Moosewala was accused by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang of having sheltered the assailants of Middukhera with the help of his manager who later escaped to Australia.

According to the Punjab police sources, Mandeep Dhariwal was arrested by Mohali Police on August 17, 2021, along with two other gang members, Jaswinder Singh Khattu and Arshdeep Singh Arsh. Several modern weapons were seized from them.

Mandeep, with the help of Sourav Patial and Gaurav Patial had been threatening people in and around Chandigarh and collecting extortion money.

They invested in music companies, Thug Life and Gold Media. Mandeep was also working in cahoots with gangster Dilpreet Baba, now in jail, and Sukhpreet Budha. He was also involved in the attack on Parmish Verma in Mohali, another Punjabi singer.

Mandeep had shot dead a lawyer Arshdeep Singh Sethi in Mohali and was sentenced to imprisonment. He along with Budha of the Bambiha gang had demanded Rs 25 Lakh from Pollywood actor Gippy Grewal as protection money.

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