Amritsar, Dec 4 (IANS): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday termed the murderous attempt on its President Sukhbir Badal as an attack on Sri Darbar Sahib even as he accused the Congress and its senior leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of patronising the perpetrator Babbar Khalsa International ‘militant’ Narayan Singh Chaura.
SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia told the media here said the murderous attack was aimed at finishing the moderate Akali leadership of Punjab and spoiling the peace in the border state by creating a communal divide.
“We demand a high court-monitored probe into the entire incident to unmask the entire conspiracy behind it,” he said.
Majithia said the ‘sewa’ to the Akali leaders, comprising Sukhbir Badal, as mandated by the Akal Takht would continue unabated. “We will not be cowed down by such cowardly attacks.”
Taking on Chief Minister Bhagwant Man of lying and taking fake credit for nabbing the accused, Majithia displayed video evidence to show the police were nowhere near the scene of the crime and the assailant was allowed to approach the Akali leader despite Punjab Police claims that the attacker was under surveillance.
“This indicates this was part of a preplanned attack and that the attacker was a sponsored hitman of the ISI and agencies besides being a close associate of Sukhijinder Singh Randhawa,” he said.
He thanked Sukhbir Badal’s personal security personnel Jasbir Singh for thwarting the attack, saying “Jasbir has been part of Sukhbir’s security detail for the past 20 years and is a part of the Badal family.”
Giving details of attacker Narayan Singh Chaura, the Akali leader said “Chaura is a dreaded militant from whom bombs, an MP-5 machine gun and an AK-47 have been recovered.”
Asserting that Narayan was the brother of Narinder Singh Chaura, Majithia said “Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa got Narinder elected to the Panchayat Samiti unanimously”.
He also asserted that two cases against Narayan Chaura were cancelled when the Congress was in power and that he was also freed in 2018 when Randhawa was a minister in the Congress government.
He also gave instances of how Randhawa had promoted associates of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) earlier.
Stating that Chief Minister Mann had completely failed as home minister, Majithia said, “The state DGP and the Amritsar Police have a lot to answer for.”
He said the police should explain how a “dreaded militant” was allowed to roam in the Sri Darbar Sahib complex for two days and why he was not nabbed earlier.
Majithia also made it clear that the perpetrator of the crime could not be called a Sikh as he had committed the crime of attacking Sri Harmandar Sahib.
“Allowing such persons to raise their head again will have very dangerous repercussions for our border state,” he added.
Khalistan sympathiser and assailant Narain Singh Chaura, allegedly a former militant who faces many cases and was accused in the sensational Burail jailbreak case in Chandigarh in 2004, opened fire at Sukhbir Singh Badal when he was sitting on “punishment” guard duty outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
In a video, Sukhbir Badal was seen in a blue 'sewadar' uniform holding a spear and the shooter whipped out the gun at point-blank range. However, the policemen were swift to react and overpowered the assailant. He escaped unhurt as the bullet hit a wall.
According to police, Chaura had crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was instrumental in smuggling weapons and explosives into Punjab during the initial phase of militancy. He was allegedly associated with the Khalistan Liberation Force and the Akal Federation. He was also wanted in cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ropar districts.
While in Pakistan, he allegedly authored a book on guerrilla warfare and "seditious" literature.