THERE was an assassination attempt on former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, leader of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) party, at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday. Badal, who was sitting in a wheelchair, was not injured.

The attacker, identified as Narain Singh Chaura, was overpowered by bystanders. The shooting was captured on video.

Chaura is allegedly a former militant, who faces many cases and has remained underground, according to one report. He belongs to Dera Baba Nanak area and was allegedly the mastermind of a jailbreak. He allegedly helped Babbar Khalsa International militants to escape from Burail jail by turning off the power supply of the jail.

Badal was performing voluntary service as part of a religious punishment (tankhah) by Sri Akal Takht Sahib, the highest temporal authority of Sikhs. At the time of the shooting, Badal was managing the temple entrance as part of his one-hour service. The punishment was for misdeeds committed by the SAD when it was in power from 2007 to 2017.