Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was taken to Delhi's Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for a medical check-up on Friday evening, 6 May. This came hours after he returned to Delhi after being arrested by the Punjab Police earlier in the day.
Bagga reached Delhi after he was earlier handed over to the Delhi police at the Thanesar police station in Haryana's Kurukshetra.
The Punjab police cavalcade that was taking him to Mohali following his arrest was intercepted by the Haryana police.
Several BJP workers protested against Bagga's arrest outside Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) office and were detained by the Delhi police.
Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday turned down the Punjab government’s request to keep Bagga in Haryana.
The Punjab police had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court soon after it handed over Bagga to the Delhi police, hours after arresting him in a case over inflammatory and communal posts on social media.
According to The Indian Express, Advocate General (AG) Anmol Rattan Sidhu termed the intervention by Haryana Police 'a violation of law' and claimed that everything was going as per procedure till the Haryana cops delayed the process.
Bagga, who is the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national secretary, was arrested on Friday by the Punjab Police on complaint of causing instigation, criminal intimidation to cause violence, imminent hurt by publishing false, and communal inflammatory statements on social media.
The interception by the Haryana Police came after the Delhi Police filed a case of 'abduction' and assault against the Punjab Police shortly after Bagga was arrested by the latter from his Delhi residence on Friday, 6 May.
Bagga's arrest took place over allegedly issuing death threats to AAP's National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the latter's views on the controversial Bollywood film The Kashmir Files.
The Delhi Police case, however, comes despite Bagga being taken to the Janakpuri police station before being escorted to Mohali. Quoting officials, IE reported that the Janakpuri police was also intimated before Bagga was arrested form his residence.
A video being widely shared on social media shows Bagga being arrested on Friday morning.
Bagga's Case To be Heard on Saturday Morning at 10 am
Advocate Satyapal Jain, appearing for Delhi police in Punjab and Haryana High Court, told the media that an FIR was lodged this morning by Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga's father at Janakpuri police station.
"FIR was lodged by Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga's father at Janakpuri PS that some people coercively picked his son. Delhi Police got search warrant from Dwarka Court & came to know that Haryana police apprehended them near Pipili,"ASG Satya Pal Jain told reporters, as per ANI.
"Delhi Police took Bagga & went back, further action will be taken. We've not arrested or detained anybody from Punjab Police. They didn't intimate Delhi police before arresting him & themselves took him into custody. Case will be heard tomorrow morning at 10am," he added.
'Didn't Join Investigation Despite 5 Notices': Punjab Police
Later in the day, KS Sandhu, DSP(D), Mohali, faced protests amid sloganeering outside the Janakpuri Police Station in Delhi. He said,"Punjab Police followed the procedure in taking Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga into custody & that the case remains pending in the court."
Earlier, in a statement, the Punjab Police said that due process of law was followed before arresting Bagga from his Delhi residence and the action was taken after sending him five notices to join the investigation.
"He is being brought here and will be produced in court. Further investigation being done by the SIT of SAS Nagar Police," the Punjab Police said, as quoted by ANI.
The police said that an FIR was registered on 1 May by the Punjab State Cyber Crime, SAS Nagar.
"The accused was served five notices to come and join investigation. The notices were duly served upon. Inspite of that, the accused deliberately did not join probe," the police said.
Bagga had been booked after AAP leader Sunny Singh filed a complaint against him, alleging that he had made provocative statements, spread rumours, and attempted to create religious and communal enmity.
'They Didn't Let Him Tie His Turban': Bagga's Parents
Meanwhile, speaking to ANI, Tajinder's father Preetpal Singh Bagga alleged that he was "punched in the face by the policemen when he tried to record a video of his arrest."
He later filed a complaint of assault against the Punjab police.
Tajinder's mother Kamaljeet Kaur told The Indian Express that the police did not even allow him to tie his turban before apprehending him early morning.
"Tajinder was sleeping. He said he should be allowed to wear his slipper and tie his siropa, but they didn’t allow that. It is a huge crime to take a Sikh man away like this without letting him tie his siropa. When my husband tried to shoot the incident (on mobile), they snatched his phone and assaulted him too, so that he could not inform anyone. He was punched in the face. He called me around 7 am from his other personal phone and told me about the incident," she told the daily.
Training guns at Kejriwal, she said: "Just because the Punjab Police is in your hands, doesn’t mean you can do daadagiri wherever you want."
On allegations of assault on Bagga's family, Manpreet Singh, SP (rural), Mohali, told The Indian Express that the police have video recordings of the arrest and the claims can be verified.
'Shameful': BJP Slams Bagga's Arrest, Protests Outside Police Station
Several BJP workers protested against Bagga's arrest outside AAP's office and were later detained by the police.
Earlier, several workers of the BJP protested outside the Janakpuri police station where Bagga was taken before being escorted to Mohali.
Taking to Twitter, Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra posted a video message alleging misuse of the Punjab Police by Arvind Kejriwal.
Mishra also claimed that Bagga's father was beaten up by the police, and called the cops "goons."
Meanwhile, Tejasvi Surya, National President of BJYM tweeted that Kejriwal has "messed with the wrong guys."
Haryana CM Issues Statement
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also commented on BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga's arrest and said the Haryana police did their job.
"They picked him up (Tajinder Bagga) from his home at 5 am. His father filed FIR (in Delhi) that he has been kidnapped by some people who took him away in a vehicle. Delhi Police informed Haryana Police that people from Punjab picked him up," Khattar was quoted as saying by ANI.
"Haryana Police became alert and stopped them in Kurukshetra, near Pipli. Since we had information from Delhi it was our duty to hand them over to Delhi Police. Amid this, they revealed their identity that they're Punjab Police & are taking him with them. We did our work," Khattar said.
"Punjab Police said that they will approach the court, it is up to them. Ultimately, Haryana Police handed them over to Delhi Police. Both Punjab and Delhi Police can take it from there," he added.
'Punjab Police Followed Due Process': AAP
Addressing the media, AAP Spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the probe was being conducted impartially by the Punjab Police and targeting Opposition leaders by misusing state machinery was the BJP's modus operandi.
"He was summoned multiple times but he did not join the investigation. The BJP spokesperson themselves said several times that the Punjab police has gone to Bagga's house several times in the past. The police didn't go there to conduct an audition, they were there to serve summons. He did not join the investigation despite being served the summons five times, following which he has been arrested. I am sure the Punjab police is conducting the probe impartially. They have gone to the lower court, the high court, and applied for anticipatory bail, but he did not get relief anywhere," Bharadwaj said.
"The BJP is calling it hate politics because they are used to misusing state machinery. It is common in BJP-ruled states to use agencies like ED, NIA, and I-T department against Opposition leaders and arrest them. This has always been the BJP's modus operandi. If any party works impartially, they see their acts with the same lens which they use to target others," he added.
Meanwhile, former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu accused Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann of "settling personal scores."
"Tajinder Bagga could be from a different party, one could have ideological differences. But Political vendetta, of @ArvindKejriwal & @BhagwantMann, to settle personal scores through Punjab police is a cardinal sin… Stop tarnishing the image of Punjab Police by Politicising it sic)." he tweeted.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)