Mumbai, May 6: In a shocking turn of events, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was on Friday detained by the Punjab Police from his West Delhi residence in connection with a case lodged against him. According to sources, a case under section 153-A (creating tension between two communities) 505 (publishing rumours), and 506 (threatening) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was lodged by the Punjab Police.

Bagga's arrest comes a month after the BJP leader was booked for his alleged remarks against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the latter's views on the movie "The Kashmir Files". Post his arrest, Bagga was taken to Mohali for interrogation. However, Bagga's family alleged that his father was allegedly slapped by the police. Delhi Police Register Kidnapping Case After Arrest of BJP Leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga by Punjab Cops.

Following the arrest of Bagga, BJP workers staged a protest against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Police outside Janakpuri police station. Reacting to Bagga's arrest, BJP leader Kapil Mishra criticised the Punjab Police for the action while Naveen Jindal accused the Aam Adami Party (AAP) of misusing police. On the other hand, Praveen Shankar Kapoor termed it "political vendetta".

In a tweet party's national spokesperson Nupur Sharma said: "50 Punjab policemen to arrest @TajinderBagga over a Tweet. His aged father was pushed around and beaten up. Early morning antics by @ArvindKejriwal. Was a fraction of this false bravado shown when investigating Patiala Violence?."

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After Bagga was detained, the Delhi Police registered a case of kidnapping against Bagga over his alleged threat to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. However, BJP leader Tejasvi Surya took to Twitter and said that the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) will do everything in its capacity to bring Bagga back to safety, and liberty. BJP Leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga Arrested by Punjab Police, Says AAP MLA Naresh Balyan.

Amid all of this, the Haryana Police stopped the Punjab Police in Kurukshetra while they were taking Bagga after his arrest. Officials from the Kurukshetra police said that Punjab Police did not follow the procedure. They also said that they received information from Delhi Police that Tajinder was arrested illegally.

Coming out in Bagga's support, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Jai Hind said that the police action on Tajinder Bagga was purely vindictive and a complete misuse of police power. However, countering Bagga's supporters, AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon in a series of tweet said that Bagga threatened to kill Arvind Kejriwal besides voicing his opinion.

In the midst of the accusation by the BJP and the AAP leaders, the Delhi Police took Bagga's custody from Punjab police and sent him back to the national capital from Kurukshetra to be produced in a local court for transit remand. In its defence, the Punjab police said that it had sent five notices to the BJP leader in order to join the investigation but he "deliberately" chose not to do so.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged that a Sikh, a reference to Bagga, has been "insulted" despite Punjab having a Sikh chief minister in Bhagwant Mann. Later, Bagga's father who alleged manhandling by Punjab Police said that police personnel punched him in the face. He further stated that the cops did not allow his son to wear a turban while they were arresting him.

A court in Delhi issued a search warrant to SHO Janakpuri to locate the BJP leader, In response, SHO informed the court that Bagga's location was traced to Thanesar, Kurukshetra in Haryana.

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In a setback to the Punjab police, the Punjab and Haryana HC turned down Punjab’s plea of taking Bagga back to Delhi. The court also directed the Haryana government to file an affidavit explaining the circumstances under which the Punjab cops were stopped at Pipli in Kurukshetra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2022 05:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).