5 min learnChandigarh, Mumbai, PuneUp to date: Aug 14, 2026 02:05 AM IST
Shiromani Akali Dal president and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured Thursday in a kirpan assault by a person dressed as a Nihang at a gurdwara in Nanded in Maharashtra.
Sixty-four-year-old Badal sustained a hand damage and was taken to a neighborhood hospital for therapy — he was seen stepping out of a automobile with a fabric wrapped round his proper hand. He was attacked at Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji, Mugat in Nanded.
His alleged assailant, recognized by police as 62-year-old Jaspal Singh from Pune, was arrested.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who ordered a probe into the incident, spoke to Badal and enquired about his well-being, CMO sources mentioned. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to Badal’s spouse and MP Harsimrat Kaur who was current there when the assault occurred — additionally accompanying the Badals have been their three youngsters.
District Collector Rahul Kardile mentioned Badal was on a go to to Nanded. “When he was popping out of the Gurdwara Mata Sahib positioned at Mugat in Nanded, a sevadar on the location all of a sudden attacked him round 1.50 pm. A police sub-inspector of the Particular Safety Unit tried to cease the attacker. Each Mr Badal and the sub-inspector sustained accidents within the assault. They’ve been admitted to a hospital and are out of hazard. The sevadar is at present in police custody and additional probe is on.”
Superintendent of Police Neelabh Rohan mentioned Jaspal Singh, the alleged assailant, had been positioned underneath arrest. “Our probe means that the accused was born and introduced up in Pune and had accomplished his LLB. He had been dwelling in Nanded since 2023. Additional investigation into the sequence of occasions and motive is at present underway.”
Groups of the Pune Metropolis Police and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad performed a search at Singh’s home within the Pulgate space of Pune. “A joint search was performed. His members of the family have been dwelling. They’ve been questioned. The data obtained within the search might be handed on to the crew probing the assault,” an officer mentioned.
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Sources mentioned Singh used to work in Mumbai with a company agency and had retired in 2023. He then turned a sevadar on the Nanded gurdwara.
In line with the sources, Singh instructed police that it was not a deliberate assault, and that he pulled out his kirpan solely when he noticed Badal.
Earlier within the day, the Badals visited Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded. The SAD chief’s crew had shared pictures of the Badal couple, their two daughters, son and son-in-law.
Following the incident, Arshdeep Singh Kler, spokesperson of the SAD, mentioned Badal was out of hazard. “He sustained minor accidents on his arm… The Maharashtra Police is investigating the case. However I need to say that Panthic leaders are being focused repeatedly, and it appears that evidently some anti-Panthic forces are behind this incident,” he mentioned.
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BJP nationwide spokesperson R P Singh, in a publish on X, mentioned, “I strongly condemn the assault on Sukhbir Singh Badal Ji in Nanded. The act of violence shouldn’t be acceptable and has no place in anyway in a democratic society. Political variations and disagreement are a pure a part of democracy, however resorting to violence can by no means be justified.”
That is the second time in lower than two years that the SAD chief has been attacked. On December 4, 2024, a former militant shot at Badal on the Golden Temple in Amritsar when he was performing non secular penance. The bullet missed him, and the alleged assailant, Narain Singh Chaura, was instantly overpowered.
Chaura was amongst these accused of enjoying a key function within the 2004 Burail jailbreak by which Jagtar Singh Hawara — he’s serving a life time period for his function within the 1995 assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh — and three others escaped through a tunnel. Hawara was captured later.
Investigators had then mentioned that Chaura facilitated the escape and had been in touch with Hawara across the time of the jailbreak. Chaura was acquitted within the case in 2015. He was later arrested following the 2024 assault on Badal however was granted bail by an Amritsar court docket in 2025.
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Hawara has now sought parole to satisfy his ailing mom. In line with Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria, he had advisable parole for Hawara on humanitarian grounds. This was after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged the Governor to intervene within the matter.
