Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga’s arrest, which saw three states in a political slugfest, was nothing short of a potboiler. It brings to mind the arrest of P Chidambaram, which saw CBI officers scaling walls, and the midnight drama that unfolded in DMK chief Karunanidhi’s house
The political drama over the arrest Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga — which saw three states in a slugfest — ended on a high note on Saturday night when the Punjab and Haryana High Court gave him relief from a fresh non-bailable warrant filed by Mohali court and also stayed his arrest until 10 May.
Television news channels, newspapers were all abuzz when the Punjab Police swooped down on Bagga’s residence at Delhi’s Janakpuri and arrested him. Bagga’s father, Preetpal Singh, had claimed that a team of 15-20 Punjab Police personnel barged into their home around 8 am on Friday, punched him in a face and didn’t even allow his son to put on his turban while arresting him.
After taking Bagga into custody, they made their way to Mohali in Punjab and were then held up in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. In the meantime, the Delhi Police filed a case of ‘kidnapping’ against their Punjab counterparts.
Bagga’s arrest and the subsequent spectacle had all the makings of a masala Bollywood movie — with family members alleging mistreatment, the cops going against cops and the political fraternity accusing one another of misusing power.
Bagga’s arrest wasn’t the first time a politician or leader’s arrest captured the attention of the country.
Jumping walls to arrest P Chidambaram
What’s an arrest without any drama? In 2019, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the INX Media case after 90 minutes of high-voltage drama.
It all had begun at 8.15 on the night of 22 August when the veteran Congress leader made a dramatic appearance at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, around 24 hours after he had gone incommunicado following the rejection of his anticipatory bail by the Delhi High Court.
Soon after making his statement where he had said that he was “engaged in the pursuit of justice” he made his way home to Jor Bagh.
As per reports, the CBI then arrived at Chidambaram’s residence 15 minutes later knocked at the main gate for a few minutes before scaling the boundary wall to enter the premises.
Soon, more CBI personnel arrived at the scene and after almost an hour, the CBI whisked P Chidambaram away and took him to the RML Hospital, likely for a medical check-up and then taken to Tihar Jail.
Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram took to Twitter to express his dismay at the events. “The drama and spectacle being enacted by the agencies is to simply sensationalise and satisfy the voyeuristic pleasure of some,” he wrote.
Singhvi, Chidambaram’s lawyer and Congress colleague said soon after the arrest, as per a Hindustan Times report: “It is sad and distressing to see the urgency and the eagerness of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate to arrest P Chidambaram, a 73-year-old man, with no flight risk and no evidence of trying to tamper evidence. Irrespective of the merit of the case, arrest must be done only when there is any chance of a person trying to flee or tampering evidence. And I respect Chidambaram’s courage because despite not being required to speak to the nation he did so and held his head high.”
File image of Congress leader P Chidambaram being whisked away by CBI officials from his Jor Bagh residence. PTI
Jaya’s arrest shocks supporters
When the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) matriarch, J Jayalalithaa, was arrested and taken into custody in 2014 in connection with the disproportionate assets case, her supporters went into a shock — so deep that it was reported that 154 people died.
At the time, PTI reported that an AIADMK functionary had said that 113 people across Tamil Nadu had suffered heart attacks due to Jayalalithaa’s conviction, while 41 committed suicide in one or the other way.
Reports state that Jayalalithaa’s arrest from her Poes Garden residence was nothing short of a Tollywood movie.
She was in her morning prayers on 26 September when the police formally arrested her from her residence and taken to Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara jail.
The police carried out the arrest despite AIADMK supporters thronging her residence and chanting slogans in her favour.
Karunanidhi’s midnight arrest
Dravida Munnetra Kazagham’s Karunanidhi, who passed away in 2019, had staged numerous agitations and gone to jail several times in his political career spanning eight decades.
But the 2001 arrest was unforgettable.
Around 1.45 am on 30 June 2001, the Tamil Nadu police knocked on the doors M Karunanidhi’s residence, allegedly roughed him up and then arrested him in connection with the Rs 12 crore ‘flyover scam’.
In a throwback video, Karunanidhi could be seen screaming and being forcibly taken down the stairs of his residence. Police was also seen manhandling Karunanidhi’s nephew Murasoli Maran.
DMK chief’s son MK Stalin was also arrested.
“The police came when I was asleep. We asked them if they had any warrant but they said that in a criminal case no warrant was needed. They behaved very badly with me. They pulled my towel and my shirt and I almost fell down the stairs,” Karunanidhi had said at that time.
Speaking about his arrest, Karunanidhi had then said to The Hindu that he had been pushed around and when he pleaded with the authorities to allow him to wear his inner garments, they refused to provide him with any privacy, thus humiliating him.
File image of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi being dragged away from his residence in Chennai by Tamil Nadu crime branch-CID police. PTI
Bal Thackeray’s arrest and release drama
No one ever thought that Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo and called the ‘Tiger’, would ever be arrested.
However, the unimaginable happened in 2000 when the then-ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra was arrested for allegedly inciting communal hatred through the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana after the Babri mosque demolition in 1992.
When news had broken that the Maharashtra government was going to persecute Thackeray, an irate army of Shiv Sena workers attacked the Mayor’s office in Thane on 17 July and broke furniture and windowpanes, and then proceeded to set papers in the office on fire.
Nine days later when Thackeray was arrested from the Mumbai mayor’s residence, his supporters erupted in anger, throwing stones at cars passing, and Sena members in the Maharashtra Assembly ripped apart the fittings in the House.
After his arrest, Thackeray was taken to Mumbai’s Bhoiwada court and in a record time of one hour, Thackeray was let off by the court. The additional chief metropolitan magistrate had then said, “As the case is time-barred the offence cannot be taken cognisance of, as also the State has not explained in its remand explanation the reason for its delay in filing the chargesheet. Condoning such a delay is on the court’s discretion. The accused is therefore released and the offence registered stands terminated.”
George Fernandes’ arrest
The image of George Fernandes, the former defence minister and senior Janata Dal leader before he founded the Samata Party, in handcuffs raising his hand in defiance remains one of the most iconic images of all time and an enduring image of the Emergency.
One of the leading personalities in the fight against Emergency, George Fernandes was arrested in June 1976 for conspiracy to procure dynamite sticks to blow up bridges and vital rail and road infrastructure. An activist who worked with Fernandes during the Emergency period had told PTI that by procurement of dynamite, the plan was to give a message to the government that they would “not take imposition of Emergency lying down”.
His colleague Vijay Narain had earlier told PTI that Fernandes had assumed the guise of a Sikh man evade arrest during Emergency with a turban and a beard, and had grown long hair. He used to call himself ‘Khushwant Singh’.
After remaining in disguise, Fernandes and his colleagues were arrested from St Paul’s Church in Kolkata.
Recalling the events of the day of their arrest, Narain told PTI: “While George was flown the same night (of June 10) to Delhi in an IAF cargo plane, I was kept in police custody and interrogated for about a fortnight in Kolkata by the police’s intelligence bureau. We all were later lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail and the case was tried in Tees Hazari court.”
George Fernandes in handcuffs raising his hand in defiance is one of the most enduring photographs of the Emergency era. Image Courtesy: www.georgefernades.com
Indira Gandhi’s dramatic arrest
After weeks of deliberation, the Janata Party government ordered the arrest of Indira Gandhi.
On 3 October 1977, in a carefully orchestrated movement, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) came to her residence at 12, Willingdon Crescent to arrest her at 4.45 pm.
India Today reports that Prime Minister Morarji Desai had given the green signal to Home Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh for her arrest, adding only one caveat: On no account was she to be handcuffed.
When she stepped out for her arrest, after almost an hour, then Indira Gandhi had said: “Where are the handcuffs? I will not go unless I am handcuffed.”
The argument about handcuffs went on for nearly one hour. In the meantime, party cadres had gathered outside the house, chanting and slogan-shouting was on.
However, despite the crowds and all the deliberations and drama, Indira Gandhi finally got into the CBI car and left, followed by Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi in their cars.
When she was produced before the court the next morning, she was unconditionally released immediately, as there was no substance in the charges against her.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.