How Punjab Police botched up on Tajinder Bagga’s arrest
Experts say Punjab Police bypassed set procedures as before arresting any accused outside the state, it is necessary to register a report in the local police station
CHANDIGARH : In a major embarrassment, the Punjab Police failed to bring Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga, booked on charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation, to Mohali after arresting him from his house in Delhi.
The Punjab Police team led by Mohali SP (rural) Manpreet Singh and DSP (detective) KS Sandhu that arrested Bagga on Friday morning, was stopped in Haryana while he was being taken to Punjab. After a highvoltage drama, Bagga was handed over to the Delhi Police.
According to experts, the Punjab Police bypassed set procedures. Before arresting any accused outside the state, it is necessary to register a report in the local police station and take the local police along, say experts. “There are other set procedures which are also to be adhered to when a police team visits other states to arrest any accused. It appears that in this case, the police team were overenthusiastic and directly raided Bagga’s house forgetting that he was having a strong political backing,” a retired DGP-level officer said.DSP (D) KS Sandhu said that on Thursday evening, one team went to Bagga’s house whereas he himself, along with an ASI and a constable, reached the Janakpuri police station to file a report with the local police.
“The Delhi Police didn’t register the report and we were made to sit in the police station for nearly 12 hours,” the DSP claimed, who alleged harassment at the hands of the Delhi Police. Senior Punjab police officials remained light-lipped on the issue and didn’t take phone calls. It was for the first time that any accused had to be let off from the custody of Punjab Police in this way.
‘Haryana Police illegally detained Punjab cops’
When the Punjab Police team that was ferrying Bagga from Delhi to Mohali was stopped in Kurukshetra, Mohali senior superintendent of police Vivek Sheel Soni wrote a letter to SP, Kurukshetra, asking her to release the detained police party along with the arrested accused, Bagga. Soni wrote that stopping Punjab Police tantamounts to illegal detention and interference in administration of criminal justice system and submitted the police party along with arrested accused may be released so that he may be produced in the court of the JMIC, Mohali, well within time as per the law.
The letter carried details of the FIR No. 18 dated 01/04/2022 registered against Bagga under sections 153-A, 505/505 (2)/506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Punjab State Cyber Crime, Mohali.
“The accused was served five notices on 09/04/2022, 11/04/2022, 15/04/2022, 22/04/2022 and 28/04/2022 but he did not appear before the investigating team,” reads the letter, adding that in accordance with law, a police party was sent vide DDR No. 25 dt. 05/05/2022 CIA Mohali to arrest the accused Bagga. Later, the Punjab Police sent ADGP, security, Sharad Satya Chauhan, to Kurukshetra but by that time, the Delhi Police had taken the custody of Bagga and returned to the national capital.
Complainant is AAP Punjab spokesperson
The complainant in the case is Sunny Ahluwalia, who is AAP Lok Sabha in-charge of Anandpur Sahib constituency and party’s Punjab spokesperson. “I filed the complaint when Bagga attacked Kejriwal over his remarks on the movie ‘The Kashmir Files’. It was a provocative statement, promoting enmity, and criminal intimidation. BJP had made a mockery of the system and the entire country is watching it,” he said.
On April 1, the FIR was registered against Tajinder Singh Bagga under Sections 153A, 505, 505(2), and 506 of the IPC at Punjab state cyber crime cell, but later it was shifted to Mohali police and DSP (city-1) Sukhnaaz Singh was conducting the inquiry.