Tajinder Bagga arrested for stoking communal tension, there's no vendetta: AAP defends Punjab Police

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday (May 6, 2022) defended Punjab Police's actions and claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was arrested from Delhi for trying to stoke communal tension and violence in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Punjab Police registered a case against Bagga last month after the BJP leader, through his social media posts, "tried to create communal tension and incite violence in the state".

Though Bharadwaj referred to the clashes in Patiala on April 29, the Punjab Police said it arrested the Delhi BJP spokesperson from his residence in the national capital in connection with a case registered in Mohali on April 1. The April 1 FIR referred to Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the Delhi chief minister's residence.

"Because of such statements, the Punjab Police lodged an FIR and now arrested Bagga. His statements were communal in nature. A lot of BJP-linked people were instigating the violence in Patiala," Bhardwaj alleged.

The April 1 FIR was registered under relevant IPC sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place, etc.), 505 (whoever makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumour or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Bagga had come under fire from the AAP, which is ruling both in Delhi and Punjab, for his tweet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over 'The Kashmir Files' movie.

After Bagga's arrest, the BJP accused the Punjab Police of "abducting" him and alleged Kejriwal was pursuing vendetta through the state police.

Delhi | BJP workers trespass police barricading outside Aam Aadmi Party's office as they protest the arrest of Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga by Punjab Police. pic.twitter.com/dF5Fwi0BBl — ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2022

Launching a counterattack, Bharadwaj said the Punjab Police arrested Bagga only after he did not join the investigation despite five summons.

"There is no vendetta. The Punjab Police is doing its work impartially," he said, dismissing the BJP's allegations of vindictive action as "absolutely wrong".

The AAP spokesperson alleged the BJP sees politics and vendetta behind the arrest of Bagga because it has been "misusing" state machinery for political gains.

"It is the modus operandi of the BJP and not any other political party," he charged.

"The BJP has always been misusing state machinery for its benefit. When elections are there, raids by ED and I-T, NIA summons and arrests by the police are quite common," Bharadwaj added.

Since the BJP has always "intimidated and threatened" its rivals using the police and other agencies, it feels the rest of the parties have also become like it when "any work is done impartially", he added.

"If there was a bit of chance in his (Bagga's) favour, he approached a lower court, high court, tried to get anticipatory bail but he didn't get any relief from any court," he stated.

The AAP leader listed a number of cases registered against Bagga since 2011 and said he has "a dossier like a big criminal".

"If you see his (Bagga's) Twitter and Facebook accounts to understand what is he known for in Delhi, you will find that his unique selling point (USP) is dirty and cheap language, poisonous speeches that can create hatred and lead to quarrels between two communities," the AAP leader said.
Bharadwaj on Thursday alleged the BJP was behind the clashes between two groups in Punjab's Patiala district, claiming that the special investigation team set up by the Bhagwant Mann government will soon come up with a "big revelation" in this connection.

Replying to questions about the Delhi Police registering a case of kidnapping after Bagga's arrest by Punjab cops, the AAP spokesperson said, "It's a matter between the police of the two states. They will look into it."

The Punjab Police will follow "all the procedures required" in this connection, he said.

"People from the BJP, while sitting in Delhi, try to incite violence and communal clash in Punjab. If the BJP, Delhi Police and the Haryana Police try to protect rioters, people are watching," Bharadwaj added.

On the BJP's charge that the Punjab Police arrested its leader without giving prior information to the local police in Delhi, the AAP leader said, "BJP spokespersons earlier said it on five occasions that Punjab Police visited Bagga's residence. Why did they go there? To give him chance in a film?"

He said the Punjab Police had visited Bagga's residence in the national capital earlier only to serve summons.

It is notable that hours after his arrest by the Punjab Police, Bagga was stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by the Delhi Police. 

Meanwhile, Bagga has reached his residence in Delhi on the intervening nights of Friday and Saturday and expressed his gratitude to the Haryana and Delhi police and BJP workers for supporting him. 

"Those who believe they can do anything with the help of Police, I want to tell them that a BJP worker will not be scared of anyone. I thank Haryana and Delhi Police and all BJP workers for supporting me. Delhi Police has filed FIR and people concerned will be punished," Bagga was quoted as saying by ANI. 

(With agency inputs)