A former Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist opened fire at Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday. The shooter, identified as Narain Singh Chaura, was overpowered by people present on the spot and handed over to the police.
Sukhbir Badal, who was serving as a guard at the temple entrance as part of a religious punishment, is safe, sources said. Videos showed the wheelchair-bound Badal, in a blue 'sewadar' uniform and holding a spear, ducking for cover as the shooter whipped out the gun. However, temple officials near the Akali Dal leader were swift to react and overpowered the shooter.
Sources said Chaura had crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was instrumental in smuggling large consignments of weapons and explosives into Punjab. In Pakistan, Chaura reportedly authored a book on guerrilla warfare and "seditious" literature. He was also accused in the Burail jailbreak case. He has already served a jail term in Punjab.
In the sensational Burail jailbreak case of 2004, four inmates, including assassins of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, escaped after digging a 94-foot tunnel.
Chaura has been booked in around a dozen cases in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ropar districts.
Senior police officer Harpal Singh said Badal was given adequate security cover. "Security arrangements were proper. The person (shooter) tried to do some mischief, but he could not succeed," he said.
The shooting incident comes a day after the former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, a Z-plus protectee, began guard duty at the Golden Temple on the orders of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs. The order was pronounced for "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, which included incidents of sacrilege, and police firing at Kotkapura.
Apart from Sukhbir Badal, former Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa was also made to stand guard at the Golden Temple gate. Other Akali Dal leaders, including former Cabinet ministers, were ordered to clean toilets and serve in the community kitchen.
Meanwhile, the incident kicked off a political storm, with Congress and the SAD targetting the ruling AAP government over law and security. The Akali Dal has demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident, with senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema calling it a "big conspiracy" to push Punjab "back into the fire".
"I want to ask (CM) Bhagwant Mann what he has done to the state," Cheema said.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring blamed the AAP government's "100% negligence" for the incident and demanded the suspension of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
"This shows the condition of the law and order situation in Punjab. The ACP should be suspended, and immediate action should be taken against him. The government is waiting for someone to be killed, and then they can say that it was a lapse... There might be hatred for Sukhbir Badal in the minds of Sikhs, but it doesn't mean you will shoot him," Warring said.
