Leaving home, Chaura told his wife he was going to attend event at Darbar Sahib
Almost everyone in Narain Singh Chaura’s adopted city of Dera Baba Nanak knows him personally but nobody is willing to talk about his past or even about today’s incident.
His native village Chaura Bajwa is located three km away from the Gurdaspur-Dera Baba Nanak highway.
Villagers recall his family left the hamlet after the floods ravaged the area in 1988. “They never came back again and subsequently settled in nearby Dera Baba Nanak. They have some agricultural land. Chaura used to visit the village twice a year to have a look at his land holdings. We knew of his reputation as a militant but he never discussed his past with anybody. For us, he was soft spoken and affable. I cannot say how he conducted himself with others but for us he was a simple man,” said Harjit Singh, panch, Chaura Bajwa village.
Chaura’s wife Jasmeet Kaur remained unfazed as scores of cameras focused on her in the family’s double-storied house. Cops from the Dera Baba Nanak police station had reached the house an hour after the assassination attempt. An ASI-rank officer led the search operations. “We are here to see if there are any incriminating documents lying in the house,” he said.
Jasmeet said her husband got up a bit early in the morning and left the house around 5:45 am. “When I asked him where he was going, he told me that he had to attend an important anniversary at the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar. I did not prolong the conversation because he looked a bit irritated,” she said, adding that her husband had made a similar visit to the Darbar Sahib yesterday. Cops said it’s possible that he might have done a recce yesterday.
Chaura’s brother Narinder Singh Bajwa remained a member of the Dera Baba Nanak block samiti in 2018.
There were allegations that MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was instrumental in making him a member. However, these accusations were vehemently denied by the MP.
Case registered against Chaura
A fresh case of attempted murder under relevant sections of the BNS and the Arms Act has been registered against Narain Singh Chaura on Wednesday. Following the attack, the police raided his house in Chaura village. Police personnel seized his laptop, DVR and other electronic gadgets.
