New Delhi: A person identified as Goldy Brar has issued a video statement after several social media users circulated his photo with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to attack him, mistaking him for the Canada-based gangster with the same name who has claimed responsibility for the murder of singer-turned-politician Sidhu Moose Wala.
In a Facebook video post, Brar said he belonged to Jandwala village and his picture was being misused on social media in connection with the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala.
"I am Goldy Brar, son of Rajinder Singh from village Jandwala. My picture is being misused on social media in connection with today's tragic incident of the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala. I will take proper legal action against those," Goldy Brar said.
Moose Wala, who had unsuccessfully contested the Punjab assembly polls on a Congress ticket, was shot dead on Sunday at Jawaharke village in the state's Mansa district.
Hours after the incident, Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for the murder in a Facebook post. Goldy Brar is a close aide of gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, who is presently lodged in Tihar Jail.
Gangster Satenderjeet Singh, alias Goldy Brar, belongs to Muktsar and is believed to be hiding in Canada.
The Goldy Brar of Jandwala village had written a congratulatory message for Bhagwant Mann after he became the Punjab chief minister and posted a photo with the AAP leader. Several users on social media falsely claimed that the gangster Goldy Brar had a connection with Bhagwant Mann.
Congress national media coordinator Radhika Khera had also shared the image and blamed the AAP government in Punjab for Moosewala's death. However, she deleted the post later and apologised for it.
"Tweeted a picture of Goldy Brar which was already viral across social media platforms as that of the murderer of our Congress leader Sidhu Moose Wala. Deleted my tweet within a few minutes. My apologies to the Goldy Brar who’s picture I tweeted," Khera tweeted.
After the resident of Jandwala village posted the video statement, many social media users came out in his support, calling him an "innocent man" and asked others to stop spreading "fake news".
On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, under pressure from the Opposition for withdrawing the security cover of the Punjabi singer, announced setting up of a judicial commission headed by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to probe the killing of Sidhu Moose Wala.