NEW DELHI/ CHANDIGARH, May 6:
Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was arrested by Punjab Police from his home, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later, a Friday of dramatic developments that drew in the police of three states and led to a BJP-AAP slugfest.
The BJP accused Punjab Police of “abducting” its leader, who has been vocal in his criticism of Arvind Kejriwal, and accused the AAP chief of pursuing vendetta through the state police.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rejected the charge and said the Delhi BJP spokesperson was arrested for allegedly stoking communal tensions in Punjab.
Delhi Police registered a case of kidnapping based on a complaint by Bagga’s father Preetpal Singh.
The Punjab Government, on its part, moved the High Court against the “detention” of its police team in Kurukshetra. The state Police requested that Bagga be kept in Haryana and not to be handed over to the Delhi Police, a plea turned down by the court, which will hold next hearing tomorrow.
The AAP rules Delhi and Punjab while the BJP governs Haryana. However, Delhi Police comes under the Union Home Ministry and not the AAP-led Delhi Government.
As tempers ran high with multiple claims and counter-claims coming in with dizzying rapidity, Preetpal Singh alleged that a team of 15-20 Punjab Police personnel barged into their Janakpuri home around 8 am, punched him in the face and did not allow his son to put on his turban while they were arresting him.
Recounting the events of the morning, he said the family, including Bagga, had finished breakfast when two Punjab Police personnel entered their west Delhi home. The two policemen had visited the family earlier as well.
“We offered them tea… A few minutes later, 10-15 Punjab Police personnel broke in. They dragged Tajinder out and did not allow him to cover his head.
“When I tried to make a video of the incident, my mobile phone was snatched and I was punched in the face and forced to sit down,” Bagga’s elderly father told reporters.
Soon after, the cavalcade of vehicles with Bagga was on its way from Delhi to Mohali in Punjab, about 250 km away, when it was held up in Kurukshetra, about halfway between the two cities.
Asked why the Punjab Police team was stopped, a Haryana Police official said there was information that Bagga had been “forcibly” picked up from his residence. “We have to verify and crosscheck these things,” he said.(PTI)
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