Narrow escape for politician as ex-terrorist opens fire during religious penance, bullet strikes wall
by Ekta ChaubeyA former terrorist opened fire at Sukhbir Singh Badal, the chief of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), while he was performing his penance.
The incident took place at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, on December 4.
Visuals show the shooter walking towards the politician and pulling a gun from his pocket. A volunteer standing near Badal grabbed the shooter’s hands. Fortunately, the gunshot missed its target and hit the wall, with the politician escaping unharmed.
According to reports, the shooter, identified as Narain Singh from Gurdaspur, had links to the Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa and had been involved in the 2004 Burail jailbreak. He was arrested by the police.
Badal, 62, a former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, had been undergoing a religious punishment (tankhah) for alleged misconduct during his party’s rule from 2007 to 2017. This punishment included duties such as washing dishes and cleaning shoes at the Golden Temple. Despite having his leg in a cast and being in a wheelchair, Badal continued his duties, including sitting at the temple gate.
Authorities investigated the motive behind the attack. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar commended the alert officers for preventing the attack despite the security challenges posed by religious sensitivities at the temple.