New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Friday registered a case of kidnapping after BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was arrested by Punjab Police personnel, officials said. They claimed that the Punjab Police team did not inform the local police before arresting Tajinder Bagga from his residence in Delhi's Janakpuri.
Tajinder Bagga, who is also the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, was held in connection with a case registered against him in Mohali last month, the Punjab Police said.
He was produced before a magistrate late at night, according to Delhi Police officials.
Tajinder Bagga's father Pritpal Singh Bagga (64) told PTI that his son, accompanied by his friends and supporters, returned home around 1 am.
Earlier in the day, Pritpal Bagga had complained that some people came to his house in the morning and took away his son, a senior police officer said, adding that the case of kidnapping has been registered at Janakpuri police station.
The Punjab Police personnel did not inform the local police in Delhi before arresting Tajinder Bagga, a Delhi Police official said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said they received information from Pritpal Bagga that his son Tajinder Bagga had been abducted around 8.30 am from his house by some unknown persons.
There were other allegations as well in his complaint, the police said.
The case was registered under sections 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 392 (robbery), 342 (wrongful confinement), 365 (kidnapping), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to a Delhi Police statement.
Thereafter, a wireless message was flashed and the said vehicle was intercepted in Kurukshetra by the Haryana Police, the DCP said.
A search warrant was obtained from a Dwarka court based on which the assistance of Kurukshetra district police was taken to trace and recover the abducted victim, Bansal said.
He was being brought to Delhi for production before a magistrate, the DCP said. Tajinder Bagga was produced before a magistrate late at night, the police said.
Pritpal Bagga told PTI he was happy that his son had come back home.
"My son was produced before a magistrate in Gurugram and released by police. Later, he reached home accompanied by his friends and supporters," Pritpal Bagga said.
In his complaint, the BJP leader's father said, "I was present at my home along with my son on Friday. Around 8.30 am, someone knocked the door repeatedly. When I opened it, some persons entered my home and manhandled me. Some of them had weapons."
"They started asking me where is Tajinder Singh Bagga. When I asked them what they wanted from Tajinder, they slapped me. Later, my son came there and they started beating him. When I tried to intervene, they pushed me," the FIR stated.
"When I took out my phone to record their video, they beat me up and snatched the mobile. Later, they forcefully took away my son who was not allowed to wear a turban and was dragged out of the house," it stated.
Pritpal Bagga was accompanied by Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta when he went to file the FIR.
The Punjab Police team was stopped in Kurukshetra's Pipli, with a Haryana Police official saying they had received information that Bagga was "forcibly" picked up from his residence.
A team of Delhi Police personnel, including senior officials, went to Kurukshetra, took Bagga's custody and left for the national capital, a Kurukshetra police official said.
Pipli Sadar police station SHO Malkiat Singh said, "The Delhi Police took him (Tajinder Bagga) with them in view of an FIR registered in Delhi about his kidnapping."
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP workers staged a protest outside Janakpuri police station and raised slogans against the Punjab Police.
Last month, the Punjab Police booked Tajinder Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.
The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Tajinder Bagga's remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
No vendetta, claims AAP
The AAP on Friday claimed Bagga was arrested for trying to stoke communal tension and violence in the border state and rejected the BJP's charge of vendetta.
Defending the Punjab Police's action, Bharadwaj told a press conference that the state 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".
"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.
