Son of Akali leader attacked in Gurdaspur

The son of a senior Akali leader and his two friends sustained injuries after they were allegedly attacked by unidentified persons here today, police said.
Chairman of Milkfed, Gurdaspur, Amarjot Singh Babbehali, son of former chief parliamentary secretary Gurbachan Singh Babbehali, and his friends -- Sikandar Singh and Gagan Harpreet Singh - were allegedly waylaid and attacked with sharp weapons by three unidentified persons, they said.
Amarjot Singh Babbehali and his friends were to their village Babbehali.
The victims were rushed to a hospital in Amritsar, police said.
"We are investigating the sequence of events that led to the incident," SSP Gurdaspur H S Bhullar said. He, however, added that no case had been registered so far.

Meanwhile, former deputy chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal condemned the incident.

In a statement, the SAD president said attacks on Akali leaders and their kith and kin were going on "unabated" with a former legislator's son and two others being stabbed at Babbehali village.
The SAD president alleged that Congress leaders, were responsible for provoking their party workers to attack Akalis.
"During the campaign for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll Navjot Singhh Sidhu delivered an inflammatory speech against Gurbachan Babbehali in front of his house in Babbehali village which set the tone for the attack," SAD chief alleged.

Efforts made to reach Sidhu for his reaction successful.
Badal asked the Congress government to take steps to check the "rampant killing of heads of religious organisations in Punjab", saying such incidents could create communal tension and lead to turmoil.
The recent targeting of RSS leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana and Hindu Sangharsh Samiti leader Vipin Sharma in Amritsar yesterday had created a "fear psychosis" in the minds of the people who felt a deliberate attempt was being made to stoke communal passions, he said.