Ashish Pandey, son of former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey, approached the Patiala House court in New Delhi to surrender after he was given a non-bailable warrant by the court for brandishing a gun outside Hyatt Regency in Delhi on 14 October.
Soon after, the police formally arrested Pandey, moving an application before Delhi's Patiala House Court seeking custodial remand of four days. However, the court granted only a day’s police remand to Pandey.
Pandey recorded a statement as he reached the court, stating that he was carrying the gun for his safety.
“I didn’t brandish it. It was hanging behind me all the time. I didn’t even address that girl, she pushed me and made obscene hand gestures. I have faith in the judiciary and so I decided to surrender. There is no history of police cases against me.”Ashish Pandey
He also said that the hotel’s CCTV footage will clear the air over who threatened whom in the argument.
“I’m being projected like I’m a wanted terrorist, and police across the nation is looking for me. A Look Out Circular has been issued against me. If you check CCTV footage, you’ll find out who went to the ladies toilet that night and who threatened whom.”
Pandey’s council, SPM Tripathi filed the surrender application, stating that his client had been wrongly framed in the FIR.
Court Issues Non-Bailable Warrant
After the video went viral, the police asked the hotel why it had not reported the incident, following which, the hotel released a statement saying they were working with the local police on it.
On Tuesday, Lucknow police had reached his residence in Lucknow and had taken suo moto cognisance of the incident.
As the video went viral, a case was subsequently registered against Pandey under the Arms Act.
The video shows Pandey walk up to a couple with a gun in his right hand during the altercation. While the woman with the other man is seen asking Pandey to leave, another woman (with Pandey) screams at her.
When Pandey tries to get close to the couple, a man in a printed shirt runs in and tries to separate the two couples.
Few men in black suits, possibly a part of the security at the five-star hotel, can be seen trying to intervene and cool things down.
After the argument is broken off, Pandey can be seen driving off in his BMW sedan, while the women in his car can be heard laughing and abusing the couple.
The video was reportedly shot by one of the women accompanying Pandey.
‘Our Entire Family is Ready to Cooperate’
Ritesh Pandey, the BSP MLA from Ambedkar Nagar, Ashish’s brother, released a statement on Wednesday saying, "Our entire family is ready to cooperate in the investigation and the media is being biased in reporting the incident," ANI reported.
‘I Had Never Seen a Gun Before in My Life’: Victim
The victim, in a telephonic conversation with India Today narrated the entire episode before the accused threatened him with a gun. He said that he did not want to file an official complaint because he was scared for his family.
Here is what he said:
“I had gone to the hotel with a friend of mine. We sat at the table. She was feeling unwell. She wanted to vomit. She said I want to go to the loo, just assist me. I assisted her to the loo. I stood guard at the gate. There was no assistant inside.
Three women walked in. They were obnoxiously drunk. They had just walked out of the club. They started making a scene. I went to look for the staff of the hotel. I told them my friend is unwell, she is inside. Please get her out. They started bullying my friend inside.
I don’t know what happened. There was a lot of noise. Some men who were with these girls walked up to me and started hurling abuses. I did not react. I stood next to the guard. I did not want to get into a fight.
I was very infuriated. But when my friend got out, we went and sat and finished our meal. She was really scared. she was sobbing very badly because they were bullying her. We decided to leave the hotel. We paid the bill and went to the reception.
These guys were already in the car. They started hurling abuses all over again. My friend was still crying. One of their friends walked up to my friend and said that her friends are really drunk so please excuse them.
Inspite of that, this man got out of the car with a gun, walked up to me and said, ‘I will shoot you’. I still did not react. I looked at the hotel staff and I said that despite so many of you being here, how is this happening?”
When asked why he did not file an official complaint, he said that he was worried for his family.
“This man must be hanging around with a weapon in Delhi at so many places. I have a family, I live a very private life. I don’t want this instance to happen with me again or my wife or family to be threatened. I have a small child,” he said.
Meanwhile, the hotel issued a statement saying that it has taken cognisance of the incident and also ensured that it will support the Delhi police in the investigation.
(With inputs from ANI)
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