Sukhbir Singh Badal attacked with kirpan at Nanded gurdwara, police probe motive

New Delhi: Former Punjab deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured after a man attacked him with a kirpan during a private visit to a gurdwara in Maharashtra’s Nanded on Thursday. A police officer in his security detail was also injured. Both were stable and out of danger.

Badal was taken to a private hospital, where he received treatment and stitches on his right hand, according to a local official. The attack has renewed scrutiny of his security less than two years after a gunman fired at him outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The Nanded collector said, “I believe Badal has a wound of about four to five centimetres on his right forearm.”

62-year old suspect questioned

Police have identified the detained assailant as Jaspal Singh, 62. The Nanded superintendent of police, Rohan Neelabh, said Singh had been working as a sevadar  (volunteer), at the Mata Sahib gurdwara and had been living in Nanded for about two years.

Neelabh said investigators were questioning him to establish the motive behind the attack.

Police have not publicly identified a political, religious or personal motive and no evidence released so far points to a wider conspiracy. That distinction remains important as political reactions to the assault gather pace.

Inspector Santosh Kendre, who was deployed on Badal’s security detail, was injured while intervening during the assault. The Nanded collector said Z-category security had been deployed.

Fadnavis orders probe

The Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, directed police to investigate the motive and circumstances surrounding the attack. He also spoke to Badal and assured him of assistance from the state government, according to an update quoting the chief minister.

The investigation will have to determine how the attacker was able to get close enough to Badal despite his security cover and whether advance warning or screening procedures failed.

Religious sites present a particular challenge for close-protection teams because security arrangements must operate without severely restricting access to worshippers.

Second attack at a Sikh religious site

The Nanded assault follows the December 2024 attack outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where a man pulled out a firearm while Badal was performing religious service. A person standing nearby intervened, the shot missed Badal and struck a wall.

There is no evidence linking the Nanded suspect to the 2024 incident.

But the fact that both attacks occurred during Badal’s presence at Sikh religious sites is likely to sharpen questions over how his security is managed during public and religious engagements.

The attack comes as the Shiromani Akali Dal attempts to rebuild its political influence in Punjab after losing much of the ground it once held in state politics. Punjab is currently governed by the Aam Aadmi Party under the chief minister, Bhagwant Mann.

The Akali Dal’s parliamentary footprint is also limited. Parliament’s current membership records list Harsimrat Kaur Badal as the party’s sitting Lok Sabha member from Bathinda.

For Sukhbir Badal, the political challenge includes reconnecting the party with its traditional Sikh and rural support base while navigating continuing debate over decisions taken during earlier Akali governments.

The attack is therefore certain to enter Punjab’s political conversation, but its cause remains a matter for investigators.

For now, the most immediate issue is how an attacker carrying a kirpan managed to reach a protected political leader closely enough to inflict an injury.

The answer will require investigators to examine the suspect’s movements, his access to the gurdwara, security deployment and whether the attack was spontaneous or planned.