Sukhbir Singh Badal shot at outside India's Golden Temple, assailant overpowered by crowd

Sukhbir Singh Badal,senior Punjab politician and former deputy chief minister of the north Indian state,faced a gun attack on Wednesday (Dec 4) when a man shot at him while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader was serving penance outside theGolden Temple in Amritsar.

Badal was not hurt in the attack, and his attacker was immediately overpowered by people present at the spot.

A video of the incident is going viral on social media. Watch it here:

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What happened to Sukhbir Badal?

Badal was sitting in his wheelchair outsideSri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) on the second day of his penancewhen the incident happened. In the video, he can be seen in blue'sewadar' cloths, holding a spear with a small board hung around his neck acknowledging his "misdeeds" when the attacker takes a shot at him but misses due to the timely intervention of a man present there.

In a statement,police official Harpal Singh said, "There were proper security arrangements here...Sukhbir ji was properly covered (given cover)".

He identified the attacker as Narayan Singh Chaura and said that the assailant "was here yesterday as well...Today too, he first paid obeisance to the Guru..."

He said nobody was hurt by the bullet, whichmissed Badal, hitting a wall instead.

Videos of the bullet pock and the empty bullet shell are also being shared online.

SAD leader calls for high-level judicial enquiry

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema, theformer Punjab educationminister, in a statement to the press, expressed his gratitude that Badal wasn't hurt and called for a high-level judicial enquiry into the incident.

(With inputs from agencies)