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.
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.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has said the promptness of the state police foiled a "conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis". "The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness. I appreciate the promptness of the police, I strongly condemn the attack on Sukhbir Badal ji. I have issued strict instructions to the police to immediately investigate the incident and submit a report," he said in a post on X.
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).
Former SAD MP Naresh Gujral said this attack shows criminals were roaming freely in Punjab and that the law and order situation has broken down. "It is very unfortunate that this attack took place, we are thankful to the Almighty that Sukhbir Badal was not harmed. Our party has been saying time and again that the law and order situation in Punjab is deplorable. The government has failed on this front and nothing is being done. You can see an attack at the gate of the Golden Temple," Mr Gujral told NDTV.
BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla has termed the attack unfortunate and said an attack on Golden Temple's sewadar amounts to an attack on Golden Temple. Congress MP Manish Tewari said Mr Badal was serving his sentence humbly. "This is very sad. It is God's grace that he is unhurt. This should be probed and the guilty must be punished."
Aman Arora from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said there is nothing wrong with Punjab's law and order situation. "This is one particular incident. Punjab police were alert and prepared to deal with this incident. Everything is in the control." On the Opposition's criticism, he said, "I don't want to politicise it, but if they want, I would ask Akalis what they did for 10 years because of which Sukhbir Badal has to perform these duties."