Badal asks US authorities to ensure sanctity of shrines

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is monitoring the situation in New Delhi and will take up the issue with the Union Government, an official spokesman said here tonight.

The incident of firing in Gurdwara in Oak Creek is "deeply painful, shocking and highly condemnable". The Chief Minister has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter immediately and ask the US authorities to ensure security of devotees and the sanctity of the religious shrines all across America, the spokesman said.