Defending the Punjab Police’s move, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday claimed that Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Bagga was arrested from Delhi by the cops for trying to stoke communal tension and violence in Punjab. The party rejected the BJP's charge of vendetta. The AAP leaders listed a number of cases registered against Bagga since 2011 and said he has "a dossier like a big criminal".
Defending the Punjab Police's action, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the State police registered a case against Bagga last month after the BJP leader, through his social media posts, "tried to create communal tension and incite violence in the State.”
“Because of such statements, the Punjab Police lodged an FIR and now arrested Bagga. His statements were communal in nature. A lot of BJP-linked people were instigating the violence in Patiala," Bhardwaj said. The April 1 FIR was registered under relevant IPC Sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place, etc.), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Bagga had come under fire from the AAP, which is the ruling party both in Delhi and Punjab, for his tweet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over 'The Kashmir Files' movie.
After Bagga's arrest, the BJP accused the Punjab Police of "abducting" him and alleged that Kejriwal was pursuing vendetta through the State police. Launching a counter-attack, Bhardwaj said the Punjab Police arrested Bagga only after he did not join the investigation despite five summons.
"There is no vendetta. The Punjab Police is doing its work impartially," he said, dismissing the BJP's allegations of vindictive action as "absolutely wrong". The AAP spokesperson alleged the BJP sees politics and vendetta behind the arrest of Bagga because it has been "misusing" State machinery for political gains. "It's BJP's and not any other political party's modus operandi," he charged.
"The BJP has always been misusing State machinery for its benefit. When elections are there, raids by ED and I-T, NIA summons and arrests by the police are quite common," Bharadwaj said. Since the BJP has always "intimidated and threatened" its rivals using the police and other agencies, it feels the rest of the parties have also become like it when "any work is done impartially", he added. "If there was a bit of chance in his (Bagga's) favour, he approached a lower court, High Court, tried to get anticipatory bail but he didn't get any relief from any court," he added.
The AAP leader listed a number of cases registered against Bagga since 2011 and said he has "a dossier like a big criminal". "What the BJP, the Delhi Police, the Haryana Police did today just to save a rioter, hooligan like Tajinder Bagga, it proves that the BJP which is also a party of rioters can go to any extent to save rioters," Atishi said while reacting on the Bagga issue. "According to the procedure, Punjab Police have to inform the Delhi Police before any such arrest. When Punjab cops went to Janakpuri police station, they were held hostage illegally. Then today when Punjab Police took Bagga, they were stopped by the Haryana Police in an illegal manner," Atishi said.