Punjab police arrest BJP leader Tajinder Bagga from Delhi residence

The Punjab Police arrested Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Friday from his Delhi residence, triggering a strong condemnation from BJP.

He has been charged with making provocative statements, promoting religious enmity, and criminal intimidation.

AAP MLA Naresh Balyan said Bagga was arrested over his alleged threat to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“Punjab police arrested a leader from the party of hooligans, BJP, Tajinder Bagga. He had threatened Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with ‘won’t let you live’,” he tweeted.

Criticising the Punjab Police, Delhi BJP spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal in a video statement said that around 50 cops barged into Bagga’s and arrested him, not allowing him to even wear his turban.

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Bagga’s father said a policeman punched him in the face when he tried to take a video. “This morning, 10-15 police personnel came to our home and dragged Tajinder out. When I picked up my mobile phone to record a video of the incident, police took me to another room and punched me in the face,” he told ANI.

The Punjab Police said Bagga had been sent notice five times to join the investigation but he refused to comply. Delhi Police however said that the Punjab cops did not intimate them about the arrest. Bagga will be taken to a Punjab court in Mohali after due legal procedure in Delhi.

Bagga has been a strong critic of Kejriwal on social media and has frequently attacked the AAP chief over a number of issues, including on ‘The Kashmir Files’ film.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya accused Kejriwal of misusing Punjab Police to target political opponents.

“Arvind Kejriwal’s brazen misuse of Punjab police to target political opponents is not unexpected. He had been raging for this. But this won’t go down well. We will fight to secure every single karyakarta of ours and ensure that Kejriwal learns how to handle power the hard way…,” he said in a tweet.

BJP leaders said the police action saying was against freedom of speech.