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4w ago

Punjab BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar Detained as Police Shut Outreach Camps Over Data-Privacy Probe

Investigators cite alleged illegal collection of residents’ personal details under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

BJP leaders staging a protest outside Dugri Police station in Ludhiana on Thursday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)
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The row over Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) outreach programme in Punjab escalated on Thursday, with police detaining nearly 500 saffron party leaders and workers to thwart their plan to hold “awareness camps” at 39 places in the state.

Overview

  • Jakhar was taken into custody in the Fazilka area on Friday as he moved to restart a welfare camp that police had previously halted in the region.
  • Punjab Police have stopped camps across at least 39 locations this week and detained several senior leaders and many workers in multiple districts, with tallies differing across reports.
  • State officials say credible complaints point to private operators gathering sensitive data and link some cases to scams and banking fraud, urging residents to use authorised Suvidha Kendras for scheme access.
  • BJP leaders call the actions harassment, met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria seeking intervention, and say they will continue the programme with statewide camps announced for August 24.
  • The BJP says the campaign, launched on May 20, has reached thousands of villages and enrolled about 1.57 lakh people, while AAP sources told The Indian Express the clampdown followed concerns the party was making new inroads in villages.