GUNNED DOWN

Rapper Sidhu Moose Wala Shot Dead Day After Security Dropped

Indian police suspect the killing to be part of an inter-gang rivalry.

Punjabi Rapper Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead on Sunday evening while driving his car in Mansa, northern India. The popular artist, real name Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was 28. On Saturday, the Punjabi government chose to drop security cover for over 400 people—including Moose Wala—in a bid to crack down on VIP culture, according to local reports. VK Bhawara, the top official in Punjab’s state police, said initial inquiries suggested gang warfare might be behind the singer’s killing. Moose Wala rose to prominence in 2017 and had become well-known in Indian diaspora countries around the world. But he also attracted controversy for some of his lyrics and was even charged by police in 2020 for allegedly promoting gun culture. He also made an unsuccessful state assembly run last year after joining India’s Congress party.