Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured in a kirpan attack by a Nihang at a gurdwara on the outskirts of Nanded in Maharashtra on Thursday.The former Punjab Deputy CM, who earlier escaped an attempt on his life at the Golden Temple entrance in December 2024, sustained an injury in his right arm and was rushed to a private hospital, where he received two-three stitches on the arm. A video showed the SAD chief walking inside the hospital with a cloth wrapped around his arm.A security man accompanying Badal sustained injuries while trying to save him. The incident took place around2 pm. Sukhbir, his MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, daughters and a son-in-law had come to pay obeisance at the at Gurdwara Mata Sahib Devan Ji Mugat.The attacker, identified as Jaspal Singh, was arrested. Singh, around 60-62 years old, is a law graduate. He has been working as a sewadar at the gurdwara for nearly two years and has no criminal record.Talking to mediapersons, Teja Singh, chief sewadar of the gurdwara, said as Badal was coming out of the gurdwara, the sword-wielding Nihang, who managed to came close to the leader due to overcrowding, attacked him. He was immediately nabbed by the security personnel on the spot. Teja Singh claimed the accused was suffering from mental health issues.This was the second attack on Badal in recent times. On December 4, 2024, Narayan Singh Chaura, a former Khalistani militant, attacked him while he was performing the duty of sewadar outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar as penance for “mistakes causing harm to the Sikh panth”.Badal was recently summoned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Behbal Kalan police firing on protesters agitating against the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari. The sacrilege had blown up into a huge political issue in Punjab ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections. The SAD has been out of power for two successive terms in the state.Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Harsimrat Kaur, who had been part of the Modi government, to inquire about Badal’s health. Badal had met the PM earlier this month, igniting speculation about the possibility of the SAD joining hands with the BJP again ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.Meanwhile, senior SAD leader Bikram Majithia strongly condemned the attack. “An attack on anyone inside a Sikh shrine is deeply disturbing. I am deeply concerned, as this is the second attack on Badal at a major gurdwara.” Linking both attacks, Majithia demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into both incidents of major security lapses.Senior party leaders Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Arshdeep Singh Kaler demanded a high-level, court-monitored probe into the incident.They said Badal was attacked even as he had a Z+ security. Cheema accused Punjab Congress and AAP leaders of instigating people against the SAD chief. He alleged that it appeared that the Congress and the AAP were trying to push the state back into the dark days of militancy.