Chandigarh:An alert Punjab Police officer dressed in plain clothes turned out a hero on Wednesday as he thwarted the assassination attempt on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
A video captured by media persons showed former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura approaching Sukhbir Badal, who was sitting in a wheelchair due to a fractured leg, and suddenly pulling out a gun from his pocket.
Without caring for his life, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Jasbir Singh, who was standing close to Sukhbir Badal at the entrance of the Golden Temple, swung into action the moment he sensed a threat to the senior Akali leader.
As Chaura tried to pull the trigger, an alert Singh pounced on him, grabbed his hands, pushed them upwards and whisked him away. In the melee, the gun fired but fortunately, the bullet hit the entrance wall of the shrine behind Sukhbir Badal, who escaped unhurt.
Other security personnel present on the spot along with members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force immediately intervened and snatched the weapon from Chaura. "I was just performing his duty," ASI Singh told reporters in Amritsar. "I was alert when he (Chaura) came. When he took out his pistol, we overpowered him and snatched his weapon," he said.
The audacious attack, which took place at around 9:30 am, was captured by media persons camping outside the Golden Temple to cover Day 2 of Sukhbir Badal's penance for the "mistakes" committed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.
Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, meanwhile, lauded the policemen for their role in foiling the murder bid on Sukhbir Badal. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also hailed the promptness of Punjab Police in nabbing the attacker. (Agency inputs)
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