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Chaura met SGPC chief minutes before attack on Sukhbir, claims defence counsel
Former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura met SGPC chief before attempting to assassinate SAD leader Sukhbir Badal; police seek CCTV footage for investigation.
Former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura, who made an assassination bid on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal’s life at the Golden Temple on December 4, had met SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami near Ber Baba Budha Sahib in parkarma of Golden Temple minutes before the attack, defence counsel advocate Jagdeep Singh Randhawa, while talking to media persons on Wednesday.
Randhawa, who was speaking after the Amritsar court extended Chaura’s remand by three more days on Wednesday, said that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) should release all the CCTV footage of cameras installed in the Golden Temple complex.
“Narain Singh Chaura also met the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami near Ber Baba Budha Sahib in parkarma of the Golden Temple minutes before the attack. My client disclosed this to me during a meeting,” Randhawa claimed while talking to media persons outside the court after the hearing.
“Why SGPC is not giving the footage of Dhami and Chaura? The SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday released the video of Chaura’s meeting a person named Dharam Singh. They should also release the video of his meeting with Dhami,” the defence counsel added.
During the hearing, Punjab police also claimed before the court that the SGPC was not providing CCTV footage from all the cameras installed in the Golden Temple Complex for it to investigate the movements of former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura from December 2 to 4.
As per police, Chaura did reconnaissance of the area before the unsuccessful attack and the cops need the footage to establish the accused movements. The court on Monday had directed the gurdwara body to provide footage of all the CCTV cameras installed at the Golden Temple complex.
The police, who were seeking an 8-day remand, stated that it needs time to nominate more persons in the FIR registered under the charges of attempt to murder based on the CCTV footage in which Chaura was seen meeting other persons on the precinct of the Golden Temple complex.
Besides, the cops also stated that Chaura recently visited Khemkaran, situated near the India-Pakistan International border and they suspect that the accused might have gone there to arrange the weapon used in the attack.
Countering the cops, Chaura’s defence counsel said that his client resides in the vicinity of the international border at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district and going to another border area is not unusual.
“Secondly, my client had gone to Khemkaran to attend the death anniversary of a militant,” the counsel said.
However, assistant commissioner of police (ACP-Central) Jaspal Singh, who was present at the court while responding to a media query, said: “We have got everything from the SGPC and we are investigating it.”
Despite repeated attempts, SGPC president and the Golden Temple chief manager Bhagwant Singh Dhangera, couldn’t be contacted for comments.
Majithia ‘identifies 3rd accomplice’ of Chaura
Chandigarh Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Wednesday claimed that Narain Singh Chaura, who made a bid on the life of Sukhbir Badal, was accompanied by a third operative ‘Jaspal Singh Jasa alias Jasa Mota alias Sirlath’’, who is a known terrorist with a criminal record.
Earlier, he had claimed that there was a second attacker also involved in the attack and had identified him as Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) terrorist Dharam Singh.
In a statement here, Majithia said: “We have identified both the accomplices of Chaura who were present with him in the Sri Darbar Sahib complex when he conducted a recce of the shrine on December 3 as well as on December 4 when he fired on Sukhbir Badal from a point blank range”.
“This conclusively junks the claims of the Amritsar Police, which has asserted that the attack was a ‘lone wolf’ operation,” he added.
Asserting that the Amritsar Police and its commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar had a lot to explain, Majithia said: “After the footage of Dharam Singh, now we have identified the second accomplice also.”
Despite repeated attempts, Bhullar was not available for comments.
