Tajinder Bagga arrest: BJP flays ‘kidnapping’, says Kejriwal wants to ‘silence’ critics

Speaking at a press conference, the BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “Today, the Punjab Police illegally kidnapped Tajinder Bagga from Delhi. We are astonished that despite a Sikh being the CM in Punjab, a Sikh was insulted at his house today and his father was beaten up… his phone was snatched and he was locked in a room.” The party further alleged that Bagga was picked up by the police without his dastar (turban). “What is he, a terrorist,” Sirsa asked, adding that Kejriwal wants to “silence and intimidate” those who are “speaking the truth against him”.

“I want to remind everyone how Arvind Kejriwal harbours vendetta. When he did not have the police under him, he got his chief secretary beaten up by his MLAs at his house. A man who can do that… just imagine how he must be misusing the police,” he said.

Sirsa also alleged that Bagga’s arrest was in violation of a court order. “A Delhi high court judgment from January 2022 said the police from other states cannot arrest Delhi residents without informing the Delhi Police.”

Justifying the arrest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) responded to the allegations stating that Bagga is a “characterless” man who did not respond to summons. “Tejinder Pal Bagga is a characterless man known for using abusive words. Through his tweets, he tried to provoke communal violence in Punjab. He was not arrested randomly from his house or anything, the Punjab police issued several summons to him at his house, but he never responded to them or cared to join the police investigation,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP spokesperson.

Bharadwaj further said that this is not the first case against Bagga as he has been booked in several cases of assault, including hitting a senior lawyer with shoes and for giving a provocative speech to instigate communal violence.