It was a crime that shook India to its core—Punjabi rap sensation Sidhu Moose Wala, gunned down in broad daylight in 2022, shot 24 times through the windshield of his SUV. The brazen murder sparked outrage, grief, and speculation. Now, in a rare interview with BBC Eye, the man who claimed responsibility—gangster Goldy Brar—has come forward to explain why Moose Wala was targeted and killed.
Speaking from an undisclosed location through a series of voice messages, Brar painted a chilling picture. “We had no option but to kill him,” he said coldly. “In his arrogance, he made some mistakes that could not be forgiven. It was either him or us.”
Brar’s confession, made nearly three years after the killing, reignites global attention on one of India’s most violent celebrity murders. Despite dozens of arrests and international manhunts, Brar remains at large—allegedly hiding in Canada, wanted by Interpol, and connected to one of India’s most notorious crime syndicates led by Lawrence Bishnoi.
On May 29, 2022, Moose Wala—real name Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu—was ambushed in the rural lanes near his Punjab village. Gunmen cornered his vehicle and unleashed a barrage of bullets. Mobile phone footage captured the chaos that followed. The rapper was declared dead at the hospital, his SUV riddled with bullet holes. A cousin and a friend survived the attack with injuries.
The brutality was shocking, but so was the apparent coordination. Six gunmen armed with AK-47s were eventually identified. Over 30 arrests followed. Still, the deeper motive behind the killing remained elusive—until now.
Moose Wala, who rose to fame in Canada after moving there in 2016, had become a global voice in Punjabi hip-hop, blending street swagger with songs about identity, village life, and corruption. With more than 5 billion YouTube views and fans stretching from India to the UK, he was seen as both a rebel and a cultural icon. Yet fame had also placed him in the crosshairs of Punjab’s violent underworld.
Brar and Bishnoi saw Moose Wala not just as a rival, but as a threat. The tipping point, Brar said, was Moose Wala’s association—perceived or real—with their enemies, the Bambiha gang. The conflict ignited over Moose Wala promoting a kabaddi match linked to Bambiha, which Bishnoi’s gang interpreted as betrayal.
The feud escalated after the murder of Vicky Middukhera, a close associate of Bishnoi. Police named Moose Wala’s friend and manager Shaganpreet Singh as a suspect in aiding the gunmen. Singh fled to Australia. Though Moose Wala was never charged and authorities found no direct evidence tying him to the murder, Brar insists the rapper was complicit.
“We wanted him punished,” Brar said. “No one listened to our plea. When decency falls on deaf ears, it’s the gunshot that gets heard.”
Asked why he didn’t trust the courts, Brar dismissed India’s justice system as a tool only the powerful can use. “Law. Justice. There’s no such thing,” he said. “Only the powerful can get justice, not people like us.”
The conversation with Brar revealed how Bishnoi, from his jail cell, and Brar, from exile, have built a criminal empire—leveraging fear, violence, and now, notoriety. Since Moose Wala’s killing, the two have turned public outrage into infamy, reportedly using their newfound clout for extortion in the music industry and beyond.
Though Brar denies killing Moose Wala for money, he admits extortion is central to the gang’s survival. “To get money,” he said bluntly, “we have to be feared.”
The murder of Sidhu Moose Wala silenced one of Punjab’s most powerful voices, but it also gave rise to a darker legacy—where celebrity, crime, and power collided in a tragedy that still haunts fans, families, and a nation grappling with questions of justice and lawlessness.