Chandigarh: A man who was arrested after opening fire at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at the main entrance of Golden Temple in Amritsar has been identified as Narain Singh Chaura (68), who has been previously involved in several criminal activities, said officials of the Punjab police.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar told reporters that while Chaura’s previous criminal record is being investigated, in the past, there have been instances when explosives and arms have been recovered from him.
Chaura’s attack on Badal was caught live on the cameras of several journalists while they were doing live reporting outside the Golden temple.
At the time of the shooting attempt, Badal was sitting on guard duty as part of the religious sentence pronounced against him and his former cabinet colleagues by Sri Akal Takht on December 2.
“While it was alertness of our staff who foiled his shooting attempt, it is matter of investigation if he was acting alone or was acting at someone’s else behest,” said Bhullar.
One such video showed how the security staff in civic uniform as well as Golden Temple sewadars standing near the entrance gate quickly intervened as they saw Chaura pointing pistol at Sukhbir Badal. He was quickly pushed, causing him to miss his target.
Commissioner Bhullar appealed for peace and said that adequate security arrangements are in place to protect Sukhbir and his colleagues.
Accused has ties with militant groups, long list of cases
As per the details of the accused released by the office of the Punjab chief minister, he belongs to the village Chaura in Dera Baba Nanak Tehsil in border district of Gurdaspur, adjoining Amritsar.
Narain Singh Chaura is said to have ties with the now inactive militant group Khalistan Liberation Army. He also allegedly had close ties with another militant group Babbar Khalsa International, whose chief Jagtar Singh Hawara was convicted as a conspirator in the 1995 assassination of then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh.
Chaura’s name also cropped up in the infamous 2004 jail escape case in which Hawara, along with four undertrials, escaped from barrack number 7 of the jail by digging a tunnel. However the police failed to prove the allegation against Chaura, who claimed to have disrupted electricity supply on the night of Hawara’s escape.
As per a Tribune report, Chaura had 30 cases registered against him, including one under the Explosives Act on May 8, 2010, at the civil lines police station in Amritsar. He was also wanted in cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ropar.
He is also said to have written books on Sikh militancy. Chaura reportedly had been to Pakistan thrice before he returned to India in 1995.
In 2014, Chaura was also convicted and sentenced to 2 years in prison by Chandigarh court under arms act. He was caught with a revolver and five live cartridges a decade earlier in Chandigarh’s sector 51.
SAD alleges ‘Khalistani connection’, says attack ‘larger conspiracy’ to disturb Punjab
In a latest video update from Golden Temple, Sukhbir Badal looked calm as he was seen washing utensils inside Gurudwara premises as part of the ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment). However, his party was in shock and linking this episode to a larger conspiracy.
Reacting to the incident, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema told media that this is a big conspiracy to push Punjab back into the fire.
“I thank God for saving Badal’s life but I want to ask Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann what has he done to the state,” said Cheema.
Another SAD leader Naresh Gujral told reporters that the attack is an attack by extremists on the moderate forces of Punjab. Sukhbir Badal and the SAD are moderate forces in Punjab, he said.
“As per preliminary reports, the attacker has Khalistani connections. The so-called Khalistanis want to somehow destabilise Punjab. There can be a conspiracy by Pakistan as well. It is clear that foreign forces sitting in Canada, America have a hand in this. We would want an inquiry by the NIA and the people and forces involved in this should be exposed and interrogated. Only then will there be peace in Punjab,” said Gujral.
It is pertinent to mention that the assassination attempt against Badal came two days after he confessed to several allegations of religious misconduct mounting against him and his party for over a decade during his ‘tankhah’ (religious punishment).
Badal acknowledged his role in securing pardon for Sirsa based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in an old blasphemy incident during his government between 2007-17.
Apart from this, Sukhbir confessed to his failure to punish perpetrators of the Bargari sacrilege and police officials for the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing incidents. Both these incidents kept Punjab religiously and politically boiling for several years due to anger among Sikh community.
Punjab CM Mann lauds state police, opposition attacks him
“Punjab Police prevented a major incident from happening today. It is the result of the promptness of the Punjab Police that the conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabis has failed. The police achieved great success by arresting the assailant on the spot with their promptness,” Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said in a statement.
“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,” Mann added.
Reacting to the situation, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring stated that there might be hatred for Sukhbir Badal in the minds of Sikhs…but it doesn’t mean one should shoot him.
He condemned the incident and at the same time blamed the Aam Aadmi government in Punjab for poor law and order.
Warring alleged that the attack took place owing to the 100 per cent negligence of the (Punjab) Government.
“This shows the condition of the law-and-order situation in Punjab. Whoever fired bullets should be given the strictest punishment,” said Warring.
Meanwhile, Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari, who lost his father during militancy in Punjab, condemned the incident.
“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. Fortunately, he was left unhurt. There should be an immediate action against the guilty,” he added
BJP leaders also called the incident a major security lapse. Punjab BJP vice president Fatehjung Singh Bajwa in his statement said that the attacker was a dreaded terrorist. He was very active during the era of terrorism. He was in jail for a long time.
“I don’t understand one thing, Police say that he was roaming here one day earlier as well. If Police knew that Narain Singh Chaura was roaming around, how did they leave Sukhbir Singh Badal out in the open despite him having in list of Z+ security protectee,” he added.
Bajwa said this could have been a huge incident had Sukhbir Singh Badal been shot or hurt. Former Punjab CM, Captain Amarinder Singh, now in BJP, said in his statement that Sukhbir Badal had already sought forgiveness for his mistakes but those behind the attack on the Akali leader had violated the Sikh Maryada.
He added that Punjab has already suffered a lot during the 1980s and 1990s and it cannot afford another dark era. He called upon people to beware of the forces, which are trying to sabotage peace in Punjab.
