Chandigarh, Dec 5 (IANS): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday asked the Punjab Police to explain why Superintendent of Police (SP) Harpal Singh Randhawa shook hands with Babbar Khalsa International operative Narayan Singh Chaura a day before he made a murderous bid on former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal.
Majithia displayed a footage from the Sri Darbar Sahib complex to show how Harpal Singh Randhawa was on friendly terms with Chaura despite knowing that he was a hardcore militant who had more than 30 cases registered against him.
“The SP and Chaura are from the same Assembly constituency of Dera Baba Nanak,” he said.
Majithia also showed how police personnel seemed to be tracking Chaura but were not taking any action to apprehend him, which had put a question mark on the conduct of the police.
He said even on Wednesday, Randhawa was seen going into the Information Office at Sri Darbar Sahib exactly three minutes before the life bid on Sukhbir Badal, despite the force purportedly being in a state of high alert.
Majithia also accused Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar of caving in to alleged pressure from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and calling one mediaperson to his residence and giving a byte to give the impression that the attack on Sukhbir Badal could have been engineering to create sympathy for the Akali leader.
Stating that this was a lie and was done to divert attention from the complete failure of the Amritsar police to protect Sukhbir Badal, the SAD leader said in a statement that “it would be better if the Police Commissioner tells Punjabis why none of the 175 personnel posted at Sri Darbar Sahib tried to even frisk Chaura, let alone apprehend him.”
Majithia said that the attack was averted by a Punjab Police security personnel posted with the Badal family who was not on duty officially on Wednesday.
“Jasbir Singh, who is posted with Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, was sent to Amritsar on December 3 to facilitate his visit to Sri Darbar Sahib as he is a Gursikh who does ‘sewa’ in the shrine regularly,” he said.
He also claimed that the Amritsar Police was threatening the Shiromani committee staff for making CCTV footage of the day of the failed assassination attempt public, as it was exposing their failure to avert the attack.