Knife attack on Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Badal in Nanded, one held

Nanded: Akali Dal chief and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured in a knife attack in Maharashtra’s Nanded on Thursday, August 13, police said.

A man attacked Badal with a knife when he was visiting the Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji Mugat, police said. One person has been detained in connection with the attack, which took place around 1.45 pm.

Badal was rushed to a private hospital for treatment. A viral video showed Badal walking inside a building with a cloth wrapped around his right hand.

Earlier in the day, Badal visited the Takht Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded along with wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is an Akali Dal MP.

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Virsa Singh Valtoha strongly condemned the attack on party chief Sukhbir Singh and demanded a thorough probe.

“There should be a thorough probe. Who are the forces behind such attack..,” Valtoha said.

In December 2024, former terrorist Narain Singh Chaura had opened fire at Sukhbir Singh Badal outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar but missed the target.

The audacious attack was captured on cameras of media persons who had gathered outside the Sikh shrine to cover the second day of Badal’s penance for “mistakes” committed by the SAD government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017.

(With inputs from PTI.)