New Delhi: The Punjab Police Wednesday detained a man from Dera Baba Nanak who attempted to open fire at outgoing Shiromani Akali Dal chief and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal outside Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple. Amritsar Deputy Commissioner of Police for Law and Order, Alam Vijay Singh, told ThePrint that the assailant has been identified as Narain Singh Chaura, a 68-year-old from Dera Baba Nanak town of Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. Chaura has a terror case against him.
The incident occurred while a wheelchair-bound Sukhbir Singh Badal was stationed outside the entry gate of the Sikh shrine, serving punishment imposed by the Akal Takht, the highest religious decision-making body for Sikhs. Chaura attempted to draw a gun from his waist and aim it at Badal. However, a Punjab Police personnel in plainclothes, who was providing security to Badal, along with others at the scene, quickly overpowered him.
Named after Guru Nanak, Dera Baba Nanak, Chaura’s hometown, holds significant religious and historical importance for Sikhs. It is believed that Guru Nanak spent the final years of his life here. The town also serves as the starting point for Sikh pilgrims traveling to the Sri Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan.
Sources in the Punjab Police told ThePrint that Chaura was arrested in a terrorism-related case in 2013 after RDX explosives were recovered from him. He was released on bail in 2018. “After returning from jail, he was involved in overground radical activities,” a senior Punjab Police officer said.
Having also served a prison term for his alleged involvement in the 2004 Burail jailbreak, in which four prisoners escaped from the high-security Burail Model Jail in Chandigarh, Chaura now allegedly leads a militant group called the Akal Federation, according to Punjab Police sources.
The local Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Harpal Singh said that Chaura was at the Golden Temple premise even Tuesday and first paid obeisance to the Guru. “He first entered the Darbar Sahib complex and then returned to attempt the shooting. We had provided complete coverage to Sukhbir Badal and hence he could not fire shots at him,” Harpal Singh told reporters outside the Golden Temple.
Badal has been serving a religious punishment at the Golden Temple after the Akal Takht announced tankhah for him and other SAD leaders Monday. The punishment was imposed for actions taken during the party’s rule in Punjab from 2007 to 2017. It requires them to perform voluntary services such as washing dishes, cleaning shoes, and other tasks within the temple complex as an act of atonement.
Condemnation across party lines
Calling the attempted shooting against Badal “extremely saddening and immoral,” Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the incident can also be seen as an attack on the religious aura of Harmandar Sahib.
“Sukhbir Singh Badal is following the orders of Akal Takht Sahib to fulfil his tankhah (religious punishment). He [Dhami] said that during this time, attacking Sukhbir Singh Badal is not only an expression of anti-Panthic mentality and an inhuman act, but also a direct insult to the orders of Akal Takht Sahib,” SGPC said in a statement Wednesday.
Dhami urged the Punjab government and police to ensure the safety of all Akali leaders fulfilling their religious service.
Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh said the attempted attack on Badal was not just an attack against him but against the Akal Takht.
Akali Dal general secretary Daljit Singh Cheema sought a response from Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and alleged that there is a conspiracy at play to “push Punjab into the fire”.
CM Mann said Punjab police thwarted a conspiracy to defame Punjab by showing promptness. He also sought a report on the incident. “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 investigate this incident quickly and submit a report,” he wrote on ‘X’.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar condemned the attack and said any untoward incident was averted only due to the bravery of the policeman who put his life in danger to save Badal. “However, his bravery can’t hide the state of Punjab and how gangsters, mafia and anti-national groups have raised their heads in the last 2.5 years of this government.”
BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa termed it more than a “security lapse” and called it a “grave breach of the sanctity of our religious institutions”.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring sought accountability from the police and asked the state government. “I think this is very wrong. This should not have happened. I consider firing at Sukhbir Singh Badal, 100 percent government negligence,” he told ANI. Warring also sought suspension of the assistant commission of police (ACP).
Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari joined his party colleague in condemning the attack. “Shri Akal Takht Sahib is the biggest religious organisation of Sikh community, and if they have taken an action, and if the punishment was being served in a pious manner by Sukhbir Singh Badal, then the attack is sad, and condemnable,” wrote Tewari on ‘X’.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: What Sukhbir Singh Badal’s ‘submission’ before Akal Takht means for future of Akali Dal & his family