Interpol issues Red Corner Notice against Goldy Brar

The Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar who claimed responsibility for the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala, within eight days after the CBI forwarded a request, officials said Thursday.

Brar is currently living in Canada.

The Punjab Police had sought the Red Corner Notice against Brar on May 30 in connection with two old cases, officials said.

Brar, a native of Sri Muktsar Sahib, had gone to Canada on a student visa in 2017 and he is an active member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, according to Punjab Police.

Moosewala's murder was allegedly in retaliation to Akali youth leader Vicky Middukhera's killing that took place last year.

The Punjab Police on Tuesday had said it had arrested eight people so far in connection with the 27-year-old singer's brutal murder.

The CBI, which is the liaison agency of the country with the Interpol, had earlier in the day said that the Punjab Police had sought the Red Corner Notice against Brar on May 30, a day after the singer was killed, as against the claims of the state police that it had sent the request on May 19.

The CBI said a communication was received from the Bureau of Investigation, Punjab Police, through an email at 12.25 pm on May 30 with a letter dated May 19 attached in it seeking issuance of a Red Corner Notice against Brar in two FIRs registered by the Punjab Police -- FIR No. 409 dated November 12, 2020 and FIR No. 44 dated February 18, 2021 -- at City Police Station, Faridkot.

Moosewala, who had fought the recent assembly elections in Punjab on a Congress ticket, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Punjab's Mansa district, a day after the state government curtailed his security cover. Over 30 empty cases of bullets were found near his SUV in which he was killed.

"In the present matter, the proposal for issuance of Red Notice (RCN) against Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy...a hard copy of the same proposal was received from Punjab police in IPCU, CBI, New Delhi on May 30, 2022," it said.

The communication was sent nearly six months after a court had issued warrants against Brar in both cases probed by the state police, sources said.

The CBI said Red Corner Notice is neither mandatory nor a pre-requisite for sending extradition request, more so when the location of the subject is known.

The Red Corner Notice alerts enforcement agencies of 195 Interpol member countries to locate and detain a fugitive wanted by a requesting member country.

FIR number 409 pertains to a shootout near the Kataria petrol pump in Faridkot on November 11, 2020, in which a charge sheet was filed in November, 2021, and warrants were issued in October, 1, 2021, they said.

The second FIR pertains to the murder of Gurlal Singh in Faridkot on February 18, 2021, in which a chargesheet was also filed in November 2021. The warrants were opened on September 13, 2021, they said.

"After processing for confirmation of pre-requisite requirements, the Red Corner Notice proposal was forwarded expeditiously to INTERPOL (Headquarters), Lyon on 02-06-2022," the CBI's spokesperson said.