Explain SP’s handshake with Sukhbir Badal’s attacker: Bikram Majithia to Amritsar police chief

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia said even on the day of the attack, SP Randhawa was seen going into the information office at Golden Temple three minutes before the attack on Badal, despite being in a state of high alert.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday asked Punjab Police and the Amritsar police commissioner to explain why superintendent of police (SP) Harpal Randhawa shook hands with Babbar Khalsa International operative Narain Singh Chaura when the latter conducted a recce of the Golden Temple on December 3, a day before the assassination attempt on Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia played footage from the Golden Temple complex to show how SP Randhawa was on friendly terms with Chaura despite knowing that the latter was a hardcore militant who had more than 30 cases registered against him. (HT File)

Addressing a press conference here, Majithia played footage from the Golden Temple complex to show how SP Randhawa was on friendly terms with Chaura despite knowing that the latter was a hardcore militant who had more than 30 cases registered against him.

“The SP and Chaura are from the same assembly constituency of Dera Baba Nanak,” said Majithia, adding how police personnel seemed to be tracking Chaura but did not apprehend him.

Majithia said even on the day of the attack, SP Randhawa was seen going into the information office at Golden Temple three minutes before the attack on Badal, despite being in a state of high alert.

Majithia also condemned Amritsar police commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar for “caving under pressure from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)” and deliberately calling a mediaperson to his residence and giving a byte to give the impression that the attack on Sukhbir could have been aimed to create sympathy for the Akali leader.