A gunman shot at a Sikh politician outside the Golden Temple in northern India on Wednesday before police caught and arrested him, in a scare at the popular site that witnessed a bloody clash between Sikh militants and troops four decades ago.
Sukhbir Singh Badal, former deputy chief minister of Punjab state, was unharmed in attack.
The shooter, identified by police as Narain Singh, 68, was seen in TV footage from news agency ANI walking to the entrance of the temple in Amritsar city, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, and stealthily removing a gun from his pocket to fire at Badal.
He was stopped and pushed away by a policeman in plainclothes who was standing next to Badal, but not before he fired a stray shot, which did not hit anyone, police said.
“Due to the alertness and deployment of our police, this attack attempt was foiled,” Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar told reporters, adding that the gunman had been arrested.
