AMRITSAR (AFP) – A gunman who attempted to shoot a Sikh political leader at a shrine in India was arrested yesterday after the thwarted attack, police said.
The assailant entered the Golden Temple in northwestern Amritsar city as a visitor and attempted to shoot Sukhbir Singh Badal, the president of a Sikh political party.
Badal’s security tackled the gunman after he took his weapon from his waist and the sole shot he fired off missed its target, instead hitting a marble pillar.
“Security of Sukhbir Singh Badal has been tightened. The assailant is in police custody and investigation is in process,” senior Punjab state police officer Harpal Singh told reporters.
Badal, 62, was at the temple to serve a punishment imposed by the faith’s hierarchy for alleged “mistakes” committed while his party was governing Punjab state in the decade up to 2017.
He had been ordered to sit at the Golden Temple’s entrance holding a spear since the beginning of the week as an act of contrition.
The Golden Temple – a gleaming structure in a large artificial pond, revered by Sikhs the world over – has been the scene of violence in the past.
