Samajwadi Party spokesperson Anurag Bhadoria was detained on Saturday after a scuffle with his Bharatiya Janata Party counterpart Gaurav Bhatia during a live debate on a television show, India Today reported.
Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma said the two leaders tussled with each other while participating in a live debate on Zee News Hindi, at the channel’s studio in Noida Sector 16-A. Sharma said Bhatia filed a complaint at the Sector 20 police station after the brawl.
Bhatia uploaded a video on his Twitter account, which showed both the participants engaging in a verbal exchange. Bhadoria is then seen pushing Bhatia away after he was approached. The leaders then brawled on live television even as a few men tried to separate them.
Sharma said that Bhadoria was detained and later shifted to the Expressway police station after Samajwadi Party leaders and workers gathered at the Sector 20 police station. Party workers then moved to the Expressway police station and shouted slogans outside it, Hindustan reported. MP Surendra Singh Nagar, who also reached the police station, claimed that Bhadoria was manhandled.
The police have also directed the news channel to submit the video clip of the incident, Sharma added.
Bhatia claimed that Bhadoria “physically manhandled” him on the news show. “I could have done the same but as a law-abiding citizen, I have given a complaint against him and the law will take its own course now,” he tweeted.
Bhadoria, meanwhile, claimed that Bhatia abused him during the debate. After his protests, Bhatia approached him and Bhadoria claimed he used his hands to shield himself from the BJP spokesperson.
Bhadoria also claimed that the police had detained him for more than six hours and were conducting a biased investigation.
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