Ex-militant Chaura may have attacked Badal on his own: Police sources

Chandigarh: Ex-terrorist Narain Singh Chaura, who opened fire at Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal outside the Golden Temple, appears to have acted on his own, preliminary police investigation revealed, Punjab Police sources have said.

Chaura was sent to a three-day police remand by a court in Amritsar on Thursday.

Badal escaped a bid on his life on Wednesday when Chaura fired at him from a close range at the Golden Temple's entrance in Amritsar but missed. He was overpowered by plainclothes policemen.

The audacious attack was captured on cameras by media persons who had gathered to cover the second day of Badal performing the duty of 'sewadar' at the main gate of the Sikh shrine as religious penance for "mistakes" committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.

Police sources said Chaura, 68, appears to have planned the attack after Badal was awarded 'tankhah', a religious punishment by the Akal Takht for "mistakes" committed by the SAD government and his party in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.

The 9mm pistol he used for the attack was seized by police.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar Bhullar Thursday said the police were thoroughly investigating the matter.

"A 9mm pistol has been recovered from his possession. From where it (pistol) was procured, we are investigating it. We are involving all agencies to keep our investigation transparent," Bhullar had said in Amritsar.

Chaura in a Facebook post in July this year had written: "The Sikh community has rejected the Akali Dal (Badal) from the political sphere due to its grave misdeeds and it is using the Akal Takht as a means to revive its image. This party is an enemy of the 'Panth' (Sikh community) and no longer has the right to lead the Sikh community in the political arena." The Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht had on December 2 pronounced 'tankhah' for Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders for the "mistakes," that included pardoning Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2007 blasphemy case.

Chaura is facing 21 cases and also had a role in the 2004 Chandigarh Burail jailbreak case.

Chaura had helped Babbar Khalsa International terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Jatar Singh Tara and Devi Singh from behind bars.

According to police sources, Chaura once even to Pakistan and was involved in the smuggling of weapons and explosives in the initial phase of militancy.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia Thursday slammed the Amritsar police commissioner for his statement that police were also investigating the "sympathy angle" in a bid on Sukhbir Badal's life.

He said it was as if the attack on the SAD leader was "engineered to gain sympathy." Majithia, a brother-in-law of Badal, accused the police of diverting the attention from its "complete failure" in the attack incident.

The former minister also alleged that a superintendent of police rank officer in Amritsar shook hands with Chaura at the Golden Temple complex on December 3, a day before the attack on Badal.

He claimed that there was footage from the Golden Temple complex, showing the SP rank officer being on "friendly terms" with Chaura.