High drama involving police forces of three States and political opponents, the BJP and the AAP, unfolded on Friday with the arrest of Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga for alleged provocative comments against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
After the Punjab police arrested Bagga in the morning from his residence, the Delhi and the Haryana Police swung into action to prevent him from being taken to Punjab. The Delhi Police filed an FIR with charges of kidnapping against the Punjab Police and alerted its counterparts in Haryana, whose cops blocked the return of their Punjab counterparts in Kurukshetra. The Delhi Police, subsequently, reached Kurukshetra, took Bagga’s custody and brought him back to Delhi.
Later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday rejected the demand of the Punjab Police to keep Bagga in Haryana. During the hearing, Haryana State counsel told the court that information about the arrest of Bagga was received from the Delhi Police and no Punjab Police official was detained in Haryana. The counsel argued that the habeas corpus petition filed by the State of Punjab was for its police officials and not for Bagga. The High Court has asked the State of Haryana to furnish a status report.
The drama, the outcome of a bitter political rivalry between the AAP and the BJP, began around 8 am when over a dozen personnel of Punjab Police swooped down on Bagga’s residence at Jankapuri in West Delhi.
The Punjab Police action became public after BJP leader Kapil Mishra conveyed it through social media.”Tajinder Bagga was arrested and taken away by 50 Punjab Police personnel from his house,” Mishra wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Tajinder’s 67-year-old father Preetpal Singh, who Mishra claimed was thrashed and punched by the Punjab Police, lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police.
Bagga’s father claimed that some people came to his residence around 8 am and took away his son and did not even allow Bagga to wear a turban while they were arresting him. Singh also alleged that the Punjab Police personnel punched him in the face. Singh was accompanied by Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta when he went to file an FIR. A case of kidnapping has been registered at the Janakpuri police station.
The focus then shifted 250 km away to Kurukshetra, where around 2 pm the cavalcade of the Punjab Police was stopped by the Haryana Police. Haryana Police officials said they received information that Bagga was forcibly picked up from his residence following which they took this step. “The Delhi Police had alerted its Haryana counterpart about the “abducted victim”, officials added. The drama intensified further with a Delhi Police team reaching Kurukshetra’s Thana Sadar police station in Pipli and took the ‘custody’ of Bagga from the Punjab Police.
Bagga was brought back to Delhi by police teams which also included Sameer Sharma, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Outer district and Prashant Gautam, the Additional DCP, west district.
Ghanshyam Bansal, DCP, West district, said on Friday, an information was received from Preetpal Bagga that his son Tajindera has been abducted around 8.30 am from his house by some unknown persons.
“A wireless message was flashed and the said vehicle was intercepted by the Haryana Police at Kurukshetra. A search warrant was obtained from the concerned Dwarka court based on which assistance of Kurukshetra District police was taken to trace and abducted victim was recovered. He is being brought to Delhi to be produced before the concerned court as per law,” said the DCP.
“The FIR on Singh’s complaint has been registered under sections 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 392 (robbery), 342 (wrongful confinement), 365 (kidnapping), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and 34 (common intension) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Janakpuri police station,” said the DCP.
As per the FIR, Singh stated that on Friday, when he was at home along with his son, around 8.30 am, someone knocked the door repeatedly.
“When I opened the door, some persons entered home and manhandled me. Some of them had weapons and they started asking me where is Tajinder? When I asked them what they wanted from Tajinder, they slapped me. Later, my son came there and he too was beaten up. When I tried to intervene, they pushed me,” the FIR stated.
“When I took out my phone to make their video, they beat me up and snatched the mobile. Later, they forcefully took away my son who was not allowed to wear a turban and was dragged out of the house,” the FIR further stated.
The AAP rules Delhi and Punjab while the BJP governs Haryana. However, the Delhi Police comes under the Union Home Ministry and not the AAP-led Delhi Government.