Sukhbir Badal shooter Narain Chaura faces 21 cases, main accused in Burail jailbreak | Chandigarh News – Times of India

CHANDIGARH: Khalistani former militant Narain Singh Chaura, 68, who opened fire on former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Wednesday at Golden Temple in Amritsar, was booked in 21 police cases, including Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosives Act and 2004 Burail jailbreak case, but acquitted in majority of them.
Chaura hails from Chaura Bajwa village in Dera Baba Nanak block of Gurdaspur district and is a farmer by profession.
Chaura, who as per police records used various aliases, including Shamsher Singh, Chamkaur Singh and Kapoor Singh Jamrodh, remains in contact with former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh assassin Jagtar Singh Hawara, lodged in Tihar jail.

Chaura played a key role in the selection of a 21-member committee formed on June 23, 2019, and headed by Hawara to take up key Sikh issues, including of “Bandi Singhs” (Sikh prisoners languishing in jails after completion of their sentences) and “failure of Bargari morcha”, said a senior police officer. A Punjab Police note said he was linked to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Wadhawa Singh Babbar based in Pakistan.

He was also associated with Pakistan-based Rattandeep Singh (now deceased) and received a consignment of RDX recovered from a Maruti car in Amritsar in 2010, according to the note. He was arrested in this case in 2013 and came out of Amritsar jail in 2018 after getting bail. Govt had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for his arrest. As per the note, he had been attending “anniversaries of terrorists Satwant Singh, Budh Singh, Sukhdev Singh Dassuwal, Balwinder Jatana, Dilawar Singh, Harjinder Jinda and Sukha”. Recently, he authored a book titled “Khalistan Virudh Saazish”.
Chaura formed Khalistan Liberation Army and escaped to Pakistan in 1984 before returning to India later, according to police. He served as a preacher and was associated with the then radical group Akal Federation before escaping to Pakistan, said an officer.
As per the police note, his elder son Jagjit Singh is an advocate and younger son Baljinder Singh a farmer. Chaura’s brother Narinder Singh is a Congress leader and sitting sarpanch of Chaura village, elected multiple times.
A retired Punjab police officer said Chaura was categorised as “A- category terrorist” and shot into prominence again in 2004 for “his role in Burail jailbreak case”. He got bail in the case and was acquitted in it in 2015. The officer said Chaura was alleged to have “thrown a chain at the transformer to short circuit the lights to help inmates flee Burail jail”. The officer said, “Chaura did recce of (slain CM) Beant Singh’s family members before his arrest in 2013 in RDX case”. After his arrest in 2013, the investigators had reportedly said that then CM Parkash Singh Badal and then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal were also among those on his “hit list”. The officer said Chaura’s brother who is sarpanch was “not linked” with the former militant.
Despite time in jail and being active during a tumultuous period, it is said that Chaura is not a member of Dal Khalsa but maintains close ties with the organisation.
Slammed Sukhbir in post on Facebook
In a Facebook post on July 14, Narain Singh Chaura, while criticising SAD and Badals, had written that Sikh community has outrightly rejected them as leaders due to their misdeeds and that they were taking the refuge of Akal Takht for their political revival.
He also wrote, “…The attempt to declare them free of their wrongdoings just by imposing “tankhah” (religious punishment) won’t be approved by Khalsa Panth, in a similar way where the Sikh community had not approved the pardon granted to Dera Sirsa under their political pressure… and those who had pardoned Sirsa dera head also had to face wrath of Guru Panth.”