Attack on Sukhbir Badal: SAD to approach Punjab Governor to seek 'impartial' probe

Shiromani Akali Dal seeks impartial probe into assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal at Golden Temple.

The Shiromani Akali Dal core committee on Friday (December 6, 2024) said it would approach Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to seek an "impartial" probe into the bid on party leader Sukhbir Singh Badal's life.

Mr. Badal escaped an assassination attempt on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) when former Khalistani terrorist Narain Singh Chaura fired at him from a close range at the Golden Temple's entrance here. Chaura missed as plainclothes police personnel overpowered him.

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

The meeting of the core committee, which is the party's highest decision-making body, was presided over by acting president Balwinder Singh Bhundar, said a party release.

The committee said the assassination bid was also an attack on the concept and ideology of 'Miri Piri' symbolised by the Akal Takht and on the sacred Harmandar Sahib which now bore the unholy marks of the "anti-Sikh assassin's bullet."

It described the "assassination attempt" on Mr. Badal as a "full-blown assault on Sikh traditions, Khalsa heritage and the sacred values and institutions bequeathed by the Great Guru Sahiban."

While rejecting the Punjab Police probe into the incident, the committee said it would approach Kataria to demand an "impartial" probe.