Sidhu Moose Wala death: was Punjabi singer shot, when is funeral, did he have a wife - and who is Goldy Brar?

Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in the Mansa district on Sunday (29 May) after being attacked by two unknown assailants.

The Indian Congress party posted on social media that it sent its “deepest condolences to his family, fans & friends”.

This is everything we know so far about what has happened.

Who was Sidhu Moose Wala?

Sidhu Moose Wala, whose real name is Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was an Indian singer, rapper, actor and politician, best known for writing the song License by Ninja.

After graduating from Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in 2016, from which he earned an electrical engineering degree, Moose Wala moved to Canada, where he released his first song titled G Wagon.

It was the following year, in 2017, that Moose Wala got his break, on a song called So High in collaboration with Byg Byrd. The song bagged him the 2017 Best Lyricist award at the Brit Asia TV Music Awards and from there he started to release a number of singles to great success, including Issa Jatt, Tochan, Selfmade, Famous and Warning Shots.

He released three studio albums throughout his career, PBX 1 in 2018, Snitches Get Stitches in 2020 and Moosetape in 2021.

In 2020, Moose Wala had his first song chart on the Canadian Hot 100 by Billboard with Game, which he released with Shooter Kahlon. It was that same year that he was named amongst the list of 50 new artists for 2020 by the Guardian.

Moose Wala was charged by police in 2020 under India’s Arms Act for allegedly promoting gun culture in one of his songs, and was regarded as something of a controversial figure.

Outside of music, Moose Wala also appeared in Punjabi cinema in films such as Yes I Am Student, Teri Meri Jodi, Gunah and Moosa Jatt.

Politically, Moose Wala campaigned for his mother, Charan Kaur, in the Moosa village in December 2018, who won the sarpanch election. He joined Congress for the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election on 3 December 2021, however he lost out to Aam Aadmi Party’s Vijay Singla.

Was he married?

Not much is known about Moose Wala’s private life - he was rumoured to be engaged, however details about his possible soon to be wife are scarce.

She is said to be from Chandigarh and the wedding was due to take place after the Punjab election.

Talking about her son in January 2022 in an interview, Moose Wala’s mother said: “A little more time, then he will not be single any more.

“We have started preparing for his marriage, which will happen after the elections this year.”

She confirmed that it was not an arranged marriage.

When did he die?

The 28-year-old was reportedly shot in the Jawaharke village, and he was believed to have been driving at the time of the attack.

The official Twitter account for Indian National Congress tweeted at 2:15 on Sunday 29 May: “The murder of Shri Sidhu Moose Wala, Congress candidate from Punjab & a talented musician, has come as a terrible shock to the Congress party & the entire nation.

“Our deepest condolences to his family, fans & friends.

“We stand united & undeterred, at this time of extreme grief.”

According to Times of India, Dr Ranjeet Rai, Civil Surgeon of Mansa Hospital, said: “Three people were brought to the hospital, out of which Sidhu Moose Wala was dead.

“After giving primary treatment, the two injured have been referred to a higher institute for further treatment.”

Local media has said that the attack took place just one day after Moose Wala had had his security withdrawn by the Punjab government. He was one of 400 people to have had their security removed by the state.

Moose Wala, as well as the 400 others included on the list, all had their names leaked.

Police reportedly said that Moose Wala was travelling in a vehicle that was not bulletproof - usually he would use his bullet-proof Toyota Fortuner.

Punjab’s chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, said that “no culprit will be spared” in the matter of Moose Wala’s murder.

Who killed him?

State police chief VK Bhawra said on Sunday (29 May) that a Canada-based gangster had taken responsibility for the attack, referring to Satenderjeet Singh, better known by his alias Goldy Brar.

Shortly after Moose Wala’s death, Brar took to social media where he wrote that he and another man named Lawrence Bishnoi were “behind the murder”.

As translated by Tribune India, Brar wrote: “Today, Moosewala was killed in Punjab, I, Sachin Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi take the responsibility. It’s our work.

“Moosewala’s name surfaced in our brother Vikramjit Singh Middukhera and Gurlal Brar’s murder, but the Punjab police did not take any action against him.

“We also came to know that Moosewala was also involved in the encounter of our associate Ankit Bhadu. Moosewala was working against us. Delhi Police had taken his name but Moosewala used his political power and saved his skin each time.”

When is his funeral?

There has been no word yet about when Moose Wala’s funeral might be taking place.