It was the second time in the recent history of the Golden Temple that shots were fired outside its gate and that too at the same spot. The latest incident where militant activist Narain Singh Chaura fired at former Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, while he sat at the gate to do sewa as part of the religious punishment.
The policemen in civvies were able to foil the attempt and catch Chaura with a 9mm pistol before any harm could be done to Badal. In the first instance, DIG Avtar Singh Atwal was shot dead outside the Gurudwara in 1983, which set off a chain of events that culminated in the infamous Operation Bluestar.
Chaura’s act sparked off a huge political slugfest in Punjab where various side hurling accusations at other. The Akali Dal leader and Sukbir’s brother-in-law, Birkramjit Singh Majithia, termed it as failure on the part of the police to prevent an attack and even showed videos where Chaura was at the sites several days ago also.
Amritsar CP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police were looking at all angles, even the one that it could have been done to gain sympathy.
Highly radicalised Chaura has been active in the militancy for the last over four decades. With a double masters degree, he has written six books, and the latest being as a counter to former Raw officer GBS Sidhu’s book Khalistan Conspiracy. Chaura rubbished Sidhu’s book, alleging conspiracy against Khalistan. The 68-year-old was trained as religious teacher and was also a preacher for some time. He was associated with Akal Federation and Khalistan Liberation Army.
Chaura had hit headlines in 2004 when he was actively involved in assisting in sensational jail break by convicted killers of former Punjab CM Beant Singh in 2004. Chaura was the mastermind in the escape of Babbar Khalsa International terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora along with their two accomplices Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh from the high security Chandigarh jail.
At that time police had claimed that he arranged the getaway vehicle and even cut off the power supply to the jail by throwing an iron chain on the overhead wires on a rainy night. The terrorists escaped from the jail by digging tunnel from their cell which opened in the fields of the jail complex. They then climbed the barbed wire to escape in the car. Chaura was arrested and finally acquitted in the case in 2015. The terror accused in the jail break case were caught, while another inmate, Devi Singh, who was in the prison along with terror accused, was never traced.
Chaura was caught after the escape. He had done several stints in jail. He has over 21 cases registered against him, but acquitted in most of them. Police had said that he had travelled to Pakistan in the 1980s to receive training and even published books on guerilla warfare.
Chaura was reportedly agitated that Badals have been let off lightly in the sacrilege cases. The police are investigating if Chaura was a lone ranger or part of a conspiracy. Some believe that he could have acted on his own volition to bring attention to Badals. Whether it will impact the Sikh politics in the time to come, it is yet to be seen.
