New Delhi:

Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has suggested the Shiromani Akali Dal should honour the man who shot at Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal since he himself had accepted he committed sacrilege, due to which the former Punjab deputy chief minister had to serve penance.

Mr Bittu in a swipe at the Akali Dal also suggested the party’s general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia should embrace Narain Singh Chaura, the man who shot at Mr Badal, “in the same way Majithia had embraced Beant Singh’s killers.”

Mr Bittu alleged the Akali Dal sympathised with terrorists, “but terrorists are not loyal to anyone.”

“Shiromani Akali Dal should show respect to Narain Singh Chaura. I appeal to the Jathedar to honour Narain Singh Chaura by putting his picture in the museum built next to the Akal Takht Sahib,” Mr Bittu, the Union Minister of State for Railway and Food Processing Industries, told reporters.

Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who was from the Congress, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in August 1995.

“When Sukhbir Singh Badal himself accepted the sacrilege, Narain Singh got emotional and fired at him, which missed and hit a wall. Narain Singh is a gem of the nation…” Mr Bittu said, adding Narain Singh fired at Sukhbir Badal “in the spirit of the Guru”, and so no case should be filed against him.

“If a case is filed, all expenses of the case should be paid to the SGPC and Narain Singh should be acquitted,” Mr Bittu said, in an apparent swipe at the Akali Dal.

Responding to the Union minister’s swipe, Bikram Singh Majithia said Mr Bittu and the BJP have a lot to answer for “validating the attack” on the former deputy chief minister.

“… On December 4, he (Mr Bittu) condemned the attack outside the parliament and now he has validated the attack. The BJP has a lot to answer. Why is their minister justifying an attack inside a gurdwara? Does the BJP support the ideology of Narain Singh Chaura because he is a sleeper cell of the ISI? RDX and an AK-47 rifle have been recovered from his house…”

#WATCH | Punjab: On Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu’s statement on the attack on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia says, “… On December 4, he condemned the attack outside the Parliament and now he has validated the attack. BJP… pic.twitter.com/WU4O37yOPQ

— ANI (@ANI) December 7, 2024

Mr Badal, 62, was shot at while serving penance ordered by the Akal Takht, the Sikhs’ highest temporal body. He had been found guilty of religious misconduct when the Akalis were in power in Punjab, from 2007 to 2017, and declared a ‘tankhaiya’, or one guilty of religious misconduct.

He was sentenced to serve food and clean dishes and toilets in gurdwaras, including the Golden Temple, and began his first day as a ‘sevadar’ on Tuesday. Dressed in blue, he sat in a wheelchair, with a plaque around his neck and a spear in hand, and his first act of contrition was washing vessels. That day passed uneventfully.

However, on Wednesday, former Khalistaini terrorist Narain Singh opened fire from a close range at Sukhbir Badal at the main gate of the Sikh shrine. He missed, and plainclothes policemen overpowered him.

Chandigarh:

Police were keeping an eye on former Khalistaini terrorist Narain Singh Chaura who had visited the Golden Temple on Tuesday too, a day before his failed attempt on the life of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, a senior official said.

Chaura on Wednesday opened fire from a close range at Badal, who was performing the duty of ‘sewadar’ at the main gate of the Sikh shrine as a religious penance, but missed as he was overpowered by plainclothes policemen.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar on Wednesday lauded the police personnel, saying their alertness had foiled the murder bid.

He said the police have seized a 9 mm pistol from Chaura.

Commissioner Bhullar said the police would investigate all angles in the case, including if any organisation was behind the incident or it was carried out to “gain sympathy”.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Harpal Singh said the police were keeping an eye on the accused. “We had covered Sukhbir Ji,” he said, adding that the cops had been alert.

“Narain Singh Chaura was roaming around here yesterday (Tuesday) as well”, he said.

Senior SAD leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia questioned why police did not take action against Chaura who faced multiple cases, many of them serious ones.

“I have shared a video that the accused was in the area since yesterday,” Majithia told reporters in Amritsar.

“He was dressed in a cream-coloured sweater yesterday. If the police were so alert, why did they not arrest him? Police were giving him VIP treatment and probably waiting for the bullet to be fired,” Mr Majithia said.

“The Punjab Police should also tell why it compromised with the safety of Sukhbir Badal by allowing the attacker to approach him and fire at point-blank range”, he said.

As other devotees entered the shrine, the shooter slowly walked towards Badal (62), who was sitting in a wheelchair due to a fractured leg, and pulled out a gun from his pocket.

Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Jasbir Singh, who was standing close to Mr Badal in plainclothes, sensed the threat to the senior Akali leader and pounced on the shooter, grabbed his hands and pushed them upwards after which the attacker was overpowered with the help of other security personnel and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force members.

Speaking to the media in Amritsar, Commissioner Bhullar said a case has been registered in the matter and investigation was being done from each angle.

“We are deeply investigating the matter. What was his (Chaura) mentality and what did he have in mind? Besides, (the role of any) organisation or political angle behind the incident (will be probed).

“Third is the sympathy angle. We are being asked whether this (incident) was done to gain sympathy. We will deeply investigate the matter in a transparent manner,” said Mr Bhullar in reply to a question.

Responding to a question, Bhullar said the security deployment at the shrine was sufficient. Police cannot carry out frisking because religious sentiments are involved, he said.

“Around 175 police personnel led by an assistant inspector general have been deployed at the complex,” he said.

Asked whether Chaura came alone, the police commissioner said, “Interrogation is going on and we are also examining the CCTV footage to corroborate to see whether he was alone or somebody else was with him.” “Technical and on-the-spot investigation will reveal it,” he said.

Special Director General of Police Arpit Shukla told PTI that more than 20 cases including under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act are registered against Chaura.

He was involved in the 2004 Burail jailbreak case where he allegedly helped terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora and two others escape from prison. A native of Chora Bajwa village Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district, he has been out on bail.

Chaura had remained in jail in Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh, his wife Jasmeet Kaur told reporters at his native place. To a question, she said he had told her that he was going to the Golden Temple. She said whatever he did was wrong.