The shocking incident of brutal attack on a Shiv Sena Punjab leader by three Nihang Sikhs in Ludhiana has put the ruling AAP government in a dock besides giving ample ammunition to the opposition parties to launch a scathing attack on CM Bhagwant Mann. A report by Rajesh Moudgil
On July 5, a leader of Shiv Sena Punjab, Sandeep Thapar, alias Gora, 58, was brutally attacked with swords in broad daylight and grievously hurt by three Nihang Sikhs in the busy Civil Hospital area of Ludhiana city.
What also shocked one was how the armed gunman accompanying Thapar reportedly did not react to the situation, and instead walked away to a corner after being threatened by one of the accused, and remained a mute spectator to the brutal attack.
The CCTV footage of the incident showed that three accused followed Thapar on foot as he came out of the hospital with his gunman riding pillion and suddenly confronted him – as his scooter moved at a snail’s pace because of crowded area and the heavy traffic – attacking him on the head with the sword following which he lost control of his scooter and fell down, unconscious.
At one point, the sword of the accused even fell off, following which, his accomplice gave it to him and joined him in resuming the attack on Thapar. Both the assailants then fled the spot by riding Thapar’s scooter.
Thapar, who suffered multiple injuries on his head and other parts of the body was first rushed to nearby Civil Hospital and later to Dayanand Medical College (DMC) and Hospital, where he is undergoing treatment.
After the incident, a number of Shiv Sena as well as BJP leaders gathered at the hospital and shouted slogans against the police for its failure to protect the leader.
The police the next day held that two of the three accused had been held within hours of the incident. It was said that they had attacked Thapar as they were angry with Thapar’s viewpoints, including one in which he allegedly celebrated the anniversary of 1984’s Army’s Operation Bluestar.
Reacting sharply over the incident, Union Minister of State for Railway and Food Processing Industries, Ravneet Bittu, who has recently won from Ludhiana seat on BJP ticket, took to X to express his shock and anguish saying that ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had made a mockery of the law and order situation in Punjab.
The BJP national spokesperson, R.P. Singh, who shared the video on X, said: “This is the law & order situation of Punjab in broad daylight on a busy road of Ludhiana near Civil Hospital, a leader of Shiv Sena Sandeep Thapar is brutally attacked & his securityman provided by Punjab Police remains mute spectator. This is not the first such case in Punjab’’.
The Shiv Sena leaders lamented that despite Thapar, who has been vocal against Khalistan and terrorism in Punjab, being under threat, the police had assigned him only one gunman
The state BJP chief, Sunili Jakhar also held that it was chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s callous attitude towards governance which was making Punjab bleed with an unabated wave of violence and hate crimes.
“First it was the fatal attack on Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar, then the fatal attack on Prabhakar in Nangal and now this. Any government would be concerned, but not this state government which is only interested in making “Rangla Punjab’’ through fake advertisements,” Jakhar said.
Other opposition parties – Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – also hit out at the AAP government alleging the administration is missing from the state. State Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal tore into the chief minister alleging that the state AAP government had proved to be an utter failure on the law and order front.
However, while condemning the attack on Thapar, AAP Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh said the Shiv Sena leader should have exercised restraint while celebrating Operation Bluestar anniversary.
However, with the Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit visiting Thapar at the Hospital on July 7, the issue has further attained serious proportions. Purohit said that he would also monitor the case and rued that when security is provided to somebody, he is given a guarantee of total protection, but, in this case, there was a total failure of the security.
