CHANDIGARH: A man opened fire at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal this morning while he was serving his penance at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The shooter was overpowered by people present on the spot. More details on this are awaited.
Sixty-two-year-old Badal, a former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, is performing ‘sewadar’ duties after the Akal Takht pronounced the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment) for him and several other Akali Dal leaders for “mistakes” committed during the party’s rule in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. He has been asked to serve as a ‘sewadar’, wash dishes and clean shoes at Golden Temple and several other gurdwaras.
Over the past two days, Mr Badal has been sitting at the gate of Golden Temple with a spear in one hand and dressed in blue ‘sewadar’ uniform. The Akali Dal leader’s leg is in a cast and he is in a wheelchair.
The incident occurred around 9 am today, shortly after Mr Badal had taken the ‘sewadar’s’ place at the Golden Temple gate. The shooter has been identified as Narain Singh from Gurdaspur district, about 75 km from Amritsar. Visuals from the spot show him slowly approaching the gate. Then he quickly brings out a gun.
A man standing near Mr Badal spots him in time and holds his hand. The gun goes off but misses Mr Badal and others near him and hits the wall. The shooter has been arrested and police are investigating the motive behind the shocking attack.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said alert police officers Rishpal Singh, Jasbir and Parminder Singh managed to foil the attack. “Narain Singh has a criminal record. We have registered a case and the incident is probed from all angles. I appeal to people to maintain peace.”
The police officer said deploying cops at the Golden Temple was a challenging task. “We cannot deploy cops in uniform because of religious feelings. It is difficult to frisk people too. We did what was possible and the result shows how prepared we were. I congratulate the officers for rising to the occasion.”
According to sources in the security establishment, Narain Singh has links with Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa. He is considered the mastermind of the 2004 Burail jailbreak case in which four inmates escaped prison after digging a 94-foot tunnel. These four prisoners were Babbar Khalsa chief Jagtar Singh Hawara, former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassins Paramjit Singh Bheora and Jagtar Singh Tara and a murder convict Devi Singh.
Earlier, Sukhbir Badal admitted his mistakes before the Akal Takth. These mistakes included pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case during the SAD rule. The Akal Takht pronounced the punishment nearly three months after he was declared ‘tankhaiya’ (guilty of religious misconduct).
