In a showdown between the police forces of Punjab on the one side and Haryana and Delhi on the other, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was today arrested by the Punjab Police from his residence in New Delhi for his recent remarks against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but Delhi Police took his custody at Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Bagga was picked up from his residence in Janakpuri area on Friday, a month after he was booked for his alleged remarks against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the latter’s views on the movie “The Kashmir Files”.

Bagga was taken to the Janakpuri Police Station where BJP workers gathered to protest against his arrest. Earlier in the day, BJP workers also staged protest outside Aam Aadmi Party office in view of Bagga’s arrest by Punjab Police from the national capital.

After heated claims and counter-claims over the arrest of Bagga from his west Delhi residence, Delhi Police today took his custody from its Punjab counterpart and sent him back to the national capital from Kurukshetra to be produced in a local court for transit remand.

Earlier, Delhi Police lodged two cases against Punjab Police in connection with the arrest.

The Punjab Police team taking the BJP spokesperson to Mohali near Chandigarh was stopped midway by Haryana Police after Delhi Police registered a kidnapping case on the complaint of Bagga’s father.

Haryana Police took Bagga to a police station near Kurukshetra town where a team of Delhi Police arrived.

Reacting to Bagga’s arrest, Punjab Advocate General Anmol Rattan Sidhu told the media in Chandigarh that the state government is going to file a habeas corpus petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court as “our police officers have been illegally detained by Haryana Police in Pipli”.

RK Rathore, the lawyer representing Punjab Police, told a news agency: “The first case was lodged under sections of kidnapping, while the second was lodged under section of assault. The second case was lodged on the complaint of Bagga’s father. Delhi police has detained four Punjab Police personnel and taken them to Janakpuri police station.”

Following all standard operating procedures, Punjab Police had duly informed Delhi Police about the matter, he claimed.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have defended the arrest, saying Punjab Police are acting in an unbiased way and the action was taken after the BJP spokesperson refused to cooperate with the investigation even after notices were sent five times.

AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said they have collected information about Bagga, who he claims uses “obscene, toxic and hateful language” on social media.

The father of Tajinder Pal Bagga, has claimed that he was punched in the face when he attempted to capture the incident on video.

Talking to a news agency, Tajinder Bagga’s father said, “This morning, 10-15 police personnel came to our home and dragged Tajinder out. When I picked up my mobile phone to record a video of the incident, police took me to another room and punched me in the face.”

Meanwhile, BJP leaders have accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of misusing the Punjab police.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the AAP government is misusing power to target its political opponents.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya took to Twitter to say that every worker of the party will ensure that Kejriwal “learns how to handle power the hard way”.

“Arvind Kejriwal’s brazen misuse of Punjab Police to target political opponents is not unexpected. He had been raging for this. But this won’t go down well. We will fight to secure every single karyakarta of ours and ensure that Kejriwal learns how to handle power the hard way…” he tweeted.

BJP’s National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh also condemned the arrest, and said, “Punjab Police is being used as personal mafia of Arvind Kejriwal. We condemn the arrest of Tajinder Bagga and assault on his father by police at the insistence of Aam Aadmi Party. Soon Karma will catch you.”

MP Nishikant Dubey shared the detention news and said that the BJP never act out of vengeance. “This is an example for the defenders of freedom of expression in a democracy that the BJP never act out of vengeance. Did not expect such a thing from you Bhagwant Mann. Every BJP worker would fight for Tajinder Bagga ji,” he tweeted in Hindi.