Sidhu Moose Wala: Wildly Popular Rapper Who Posed With Guns

Moosewala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was born in 1993 in the village by the same name in Punjab's Mansa district. His mother was a village sarpanch and father a former Armyman. The Congress leader held a degree in electrical engineering. He took to music in college and later moved to Canada.

The 28-year-old, who had a whopping 8.1 million followers on Instagram, was accused of promoting gun culture as he is seen posing with weapons in videos and photographs. In fact, a case was filed against him after images showing him firing a rifle went viral.

Moose Wala was a vocal supporter of the farmers protesting against the three now-repealed farm laws. The Congress roped him in owing to his popularity. He contested this year's Punjab polls from Mansa but lost to AAP's Vijay Singla.

Following his death, posts by social media handles claiming to represent gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's group have alleged that the singer had sheltered the killers of Youth Akali Dal leader Vikramjit Singh, also known as Vicky Middukhera.

Owing to threats against him, the Punjab government had provided him with a security cover of four armed personnel. This was downsized a day before he was shot dead. He had the protection of two security guards but he had travelled without them when he was gunned down.