A mystery attacker wearing a blue turban and flowing beard shot at and critically injured the controversial vice-chancellor of a new SGPC-run university in Fatehgarh Sahib this afternoon. Police were unable till late evening to put a finger on the motive or identity of the assailant,described by onlookers as a tall man in his forties,but were ruling out the hand of a terrorist group. Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia,vice-chancellor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University,was shot through the jaw as he turned in response to the assailants call of V-C Sahib in the porch of the main entrance to the university at around 3.30 pm,eyewitnesses said. The attacker fired two more rounds,one of which was intended to scare off onlookers,police said. Some radical Sikh groups had been angered by the appointment of Ahluwalia,who had faced and had been acquitted in two separate cases of corruption and sexual harassment during an earlier assignment several years ago. The Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University was opened by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on July 25. The 75-year-old Ahluwalia was rushed to PGI Emergency,where he was fighting for life this evening. Amarjit Singh Ghuman,DSP,Fatehgarh Sahib,who visited the hospital,said doctors had told him that the bullet was lodged in the lower right jaw. The V-Cs condition,Ghuman said,was critical but stable. Ranbir Singh Khatra,SSP Fategarh Sahib,said,Ahluwalia was giving instructions to staff members near the gate close to the reception when an unidentified Sikh man wearing a blue turban and a flowing beard came over and fired three shots from a pistol. He then ran towards the gate,snatched a motocycle and fled. DIG,Ludhiana Range,M F Farooqui,who visited the spot,said police were working on certain leads. Sources in the police told The Indian Express that the assailant had hired a taxi from Sirhind,telling the driver that he (the assailant) was dean of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University,and that his car had broken down. He had entered the campus in the taxi,got off to fire at the V-C,and then run back towards the vehicle. However,the taxi driver drove off in panic,and the attacker had been forced to keep running,said an officer. Eyewitnesses are learnt to have told police that he then tried to snatch two cars,one with a red beacon,but failed. He kept running towards the university gate,with the weapon in his hand,and came across a motorcycle with three men,apparently university students,riding it. He forced two of the youths off at gunpoint,and commandeered the motorcycle to make his getaway,sitting pillion behind the rider. We are trying to identify the student (who was driving the motorcycle), Farooqui told The Indian Express. In February 2002,when Ahluwalia was V-C of Punjabi University,Patiala,a case was registered against him after a postgraduate student alleged that he had forced her to keep quiet about incidents of sexual harassment taking place at the universitys department of fine arts. In April that year,a separate case of corruption and forgery was registered against him. The then Congress government removed him as V-C,but Ahluwalia was subsequently acquitted by courts in both cases. A police officer said Ahluwalia faced no threat and had not been provided with armed security. Police sealed the campus following the incident. Avtar Singh Makkar,chief of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,who was present at the universitys opening last week,said he was shocked at the attack on the V-C. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh described the attack as a reprehensible act that must be condemned by one and all,PTI reported.
