The shooter Chaura, a former terrorist, was also named as the mastermind of the sensational 2004 Burail jail break in Chandigarh and remained wanted in several other terror-related cases. |
Senior Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday morning narrowly escaped an assassination bid when an ex-Khalistani militant opened fire at him outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar where the Sukhbir was serving his religious punishment as a “sevadar’’ sitting in a wheelchair, besides his former Cabinet colleague Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
While the former deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal chief, Sukhbir, 62, escaped unhurt as the bullet hit a wall, the shooter, identified as Narain Singh Chaura, was instantly nabbed by the police from the spot.
The shooter Chaura, a former terrorist, was also named as the mastermind of the sensational 2004 Burail jail break in Chandigarh and remained wanted in several other terror-related cases. It may be recalled that Jagtar Singh Hawara, the assassin of chief minister Beant Singh, had escaped from the Burail jail along with four other undertrials, by digging a tunnel in this shocking jail-break.
The assassination bid on Sukhbir took place around 9.30 am, when Chaura, who was a few feet away from Sukhbir, suddenly he took out a pistol and before he could point it towards Sukhbir to fire at him, one of the cops – deployed in civvies (civilian clothes) – swung into action and overpowered him within seconds; yet, even though Chaura opened fire, the bullet was fired into the air hitting the wall behind.
According to media reports Chaura was also seen roaming around the area for some time – where Sukhbir was serving the punishment and had finally walked close to him, positioned himself in front of Sukhbir. He was in the process of getting his pistol out, but missed the target as he was pushed away and overpowered by the alert cop assistant sub-inspector Jasbir Singh of Amritsar police who gauged the situation in the nick of time and acted swiftly.
Even though details from the Punjab police were still awaited, Akali leader Daljit Singh Cheema, called it a major security lapse and claimed that Chaura was roaming around Golden Temple for the past two days yet the police did not act in the context.
The entire attack was captured on the cameras placed around to cover the second day of Badal’s penance for his and other Akali leaders’ religious mistakes directed by Akal Takht on Monday. The Akali leaders were pronounced “tankhaiya’’ (guilty of religious misconduct) by the Akal Takht about three months ago for the “mistakes’’ committed by SAD government from 2007 to 2017 and its failure to address key issues of the Sikh community, when the SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal was chief minister and Sukhbir deputy chief minister and also the president of the party.
The “mistakes’’ committed by the Akali leaders mentioned above included – revocation of the blasphemy case against Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for imitating Guru Gobind Singh in 2007, the failure to punish perpetrators of the Bargari sacrilege and police officials for the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents, besides others.
