Bagga arrest: Punjab moves HC over detention of police officers
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday is expected to hear the Punjab government's plea seeking the release of the Punjab Police officers who went to arrest BJP leader Tajinder Bagga. The Punjab government earlier moved a habeas corpus petition, challenging the "detention" of its police officials in Kurukshetra after the Haryana Police "abruptly and illegally restrained" them from taking Bagga to Mohali.
- The Punjab Police booked Bagga last month for statements against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over his views on The Kashmir Files (2022), based on AAP Punjab leader Sunny Singh Ahluwalia's complaint.
- Punjab cops arrested Bagga from Delhi on Friday and were going to Mohali when Haryana Police stopped them at Kurukshetra and detained Punjab cops. Bagga was subsequently handed over to the Delhi Police.
Punjab Advocate-General Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu submitted that Delhi Police officials had "illegally taken away Bagga from the lawful custody of the Punjab Police." The case came up for preliminary hearing before Justice Lalit Batra's bench, following which the high court had directed both the Haryana and Delhi governments to file status reports. However, both states claimed they had not detained any police officials.
Sidhu termed the Haryana Police's intervention "a violation of the law." The Punjab government on Friday requested the HC to not allow Delhi cops to cross the Haryana border with Bagga. However, the court had turned down Punjab's request. Following this, the Delhi Police team took Bagga's custody in Kurukshetra. Later, Bagga reached his Delhi residence on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Bagga claimed on Saturday the Punjab Police barged into his home on Friday and arrested him. He alleged they didn't show any warrant and they picked him up from his residence without even giving him a chance to wear his turban and slippers. "I was thrown into the vehicle. I was kidnapped...nearly 50 policemen came as they do it with a terrorist," he said.
Bagga slammed Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, Kejriwal, for "illegally" detaining him. He added his detention was an attempt to warn that whosoever speaks against Kejriwal would be termed the "biggest terrorist" and "not spared." Last month, too, he had claimed the Punjab Police officials reached his residence while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi Police.
Bagga claimed Punjab cops beat him up at his Janakpuri residence in Delhi, but he wasn't manhandled en route to Mohali. "They perhaps had the orders [not to]. They were streaming it live. They asked me to stop talking about...two issues [The Kashmir Files and Kejriwal]," he claimed. Meanwhile, Bagga said he would keep fighting until Kejriwal apologizes for his comments on Kashmiri Pandits.
Bagga has alleged that the Punjab Police personnel assaulted him and he sustained injuries. IANS reported Bagga's medical leave certificate revealed he suffered multiple injuries on his back and shoulder. Moreover, his father, Preetpal Singh Bagga, claimed there was a "threat to Bagga's life." Duty Magistrate Swayam Siddha Tripathi of Delhi's Dwarka court has directed the Janakpuri Police to ensure Bagga's safety and security.
To recall, speaking about The Kashmir Files in the Assembly on March 24, Kejriwal mockingly said, "Some people are earning crores of rupees in the name of Kashmir Pandits and have given work of sticking posters to the BJP." "[TKF director Vivek Agnihotri] earned crores in the name of Kashmiri Pandits and you were left sticking posters. What are you doing?" he added.
Later, on March 31, Bagga pasted posters—reading, "Listen Kejriwal, the film that you call a lie is a painful part of our history"—outside AAP's office. This came amid protests against Kejriwal for his blatant and "insensitive" remarks on The Kashmir Files. Members of the BJP's youth wing had also protested outside Kejriwal's residence against his "disrespectful" remarks about the "Kashmiri Genocide."
