Chaura was accompanied by second attacker, claims Akali Dal leader Majithia

CCTV footage clearly shows presence of second attacker while Amritsar police has been claiming that Chaura acted as ‘lone wolf, says Bikram Singh Majithia

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday claimed that former militant Narain Singh Chaura, who had made an assassination bid on Sukhbir Singh Badal’s life at the Golden Temple, was accompanied by a second attacker and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terrorist Dharam Singh.

Punjab police officials bring Narain Singh Chaura to the court in Amritsar. (ANI File)

Addressing media persons here, Majithia questioned Amritsar's police investigation pointing out a ‘lone wolf’ angle.

In support of his claims, Majithia released a video from a December 3 CCTV camera footage of the Golden Temple complex that shows Chaura accompanied by Dharam Singh and another unidentified man, who is yet to be identified.

HT could not independently verify the veracity of the video.

READ | Sukhbir attacker Chaura’s remand extended by 3 days

Sukhbir escaped a bid on his life on December 4 when Chaura fired from a close range at him at the Golden Temple’s entrance but missed as plainclothes policemen overpowered him.

The attack was captured on cameras by media persons who had gathered to cover the second day of Badal performing the duty of ‘sewadar’ at the main gate of the Sikh shrine here as religious penance for “mistakes” committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.

READ | SGPC passes resolution seeking excommunication of Sukhbir attacker Narain Singh Chaura

Majithia also alleged that the Amritsar police had “diluted” the FIR registered in the case.

“The intention of Chaura to kill Sukhbir and the fact that it was a narrow escape as the bullet was lodged in the wall of the Darshani Deodi are not mentioned in the FIR. Moreover, calling Chaura a devotee instead of mentioning that the latter had committed a premeditated crime is also aimed at letting him off the hook,” Majithia said.

Majithia had on Monday requested Punjab Police Chief Gaurav Yadav to transfer the probe in the case to himself or special DGP Prabodh Kumar.

In a letter to Yadav, Majithia said, “Prabodh Kumar had proven his loyalty to the uniform and shown that he could stand by the truth as proved in his report to the Punjab and Haryana high court in the Lawrence Bishnoi interview case.”

HT’s calls and texts to DGP Gaurav Yadav and Amritsar police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar did not elicit any response.