Tajinder Bagga makes first public comment after arrest, vows to 'continue fight until Kejriwal...'

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Friday (May 6, 2022) made his first public comment after his arrest and termed detention by the Punjab Police as "illegal". He said that he will keep fighting until Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal apologised for his comments on the Kashmiri Pandits. 

"Those who believe they can do anything with the help of Police, I want to tell them a BJP worker will not be scared of anyone. I thank Haryana and Delhi Police and all BJP workers for supporting me," Bagga told media persons after reaching his residence in Delhi.

"This was an illegal detention. No local police officer was informed about this. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal can register 100 more FIRs against me if he wants to. We will keep fighting until he apologises for what he said about Kashmiri Pandits," he added.

Those who believe they can do anything with the help of Police, I want to tell them a BJP worker will not be scared of anyone. I thank Haryana & Delhi Police & all BJP workers for supporting me. Delhi Police has filed FIR & people concerned will be punished: Tajinder Singh Bagga pic.twitter.com/Y8EeMqfDEc — ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2022

Bagga's reaction came after nearly a day-long drama over his arrest by Punjab Police in a case registered against him in Mohali.

The Punjab Police arrived in the capital and arrested the BJP leader on Friday morning, but were stopped in Haryana's Kurukshetra after the Delhi Police registered a case of kidnapping.

The Delhi Police claimed that the Punjab cops did not inform the local police before arresting Bagga from his residence in Delhi's Janakpuri.

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.

Tajinder Bagga's father, Pritpal Singh Bagga, 64, had complained that some people came to his house in the morning and took away his son, a senior Delhi Police officer said, adding that the case of kidnapping has been registered at Janakpuri police station.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said they received information from Pritpal Singh Bagga that his son Tajinder Bagga had been abducted around 8.30 am from his house by some unknown persons.

There were also other allegations in his complaint, police said.

The case was registered under IPC 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 intension), according to the Delhi Police statement.

Thereafter, a wireless message was flashed and the said vehicle was intercepted by Haryana Police in Kurukshetra, 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 added.

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

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.

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. 

(With agency inputs)