Key accused after bail: ‘Will oppose again if gurdwara property is used’

SANGRUR : Almost three months after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s cavalcade was attacked by members of radical Sikh outfits on October 4, the key accused, Bachittar Singh, was released from the district jail on Tuesday. He, however, claimed that he would oppose Sukhbir again if he used gurdwara property for political purposes.

“The Badal family has been using gurdwara property for a long time. Those who oppose them are implicated in false cases. If Sukhbir uses gurdwara property in future, we will definitely oppose him again,” said Bachittar.

When the attack happened, activists owing allegiance to the Granthi Sabha and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) were opposing Sukhbir’s meeting scheduled at Gurdwara Nankiana Sahib on the outskirts of Sangrur town.

At the time, Bachittar had claimed that they were only trying to stop Sukhbir from entering the gurdwara premises but the police did not let them do so. “The Akalis are using religious places as their personal property. We were opposing Sukhbir’s visit. A stick may have hit one of the cars when the protesters were trying to stop the convoy,” he had said.

Bachittar, including Manjit Singh, Gurjant Singh Duggan and Davinder Singh, have been released on bail. Sukhwinder Singh was released on Monday. This means that five of the six accused have been bailed out on December 21. The sixth accused, Gurjant Singh, has not applied for bail.

Police had arrested the six accused after booking them under Sections 353 ( deter public servant from discharging duty), 427 (mischief causing damage), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and others of IPC.