The video of the whole incident which went viral on social media drew sharp political reactions.
A former Bahujan Samajwadi Party MP’s son was booked on Tuesday for allegedly brandishing a gun at guests outside Hyatt Regency in Delhi and threatening them, even as the party sought to distance itself from the incident. Senior BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria said the accused, Ashish Pandey, is neither a leader nor a member of the BSP, after the incident, the video of which went viral on social media, drew sharp political reactions.
“Whosoever he is, proper investigation should be done and action should be taken. The incident doesn’t have any connection with BSP. He is neither a leader nor a member of BSP,” Bhadoria was quoted as saying by ANI.
The incident took place in the early hours on Sunday at Hyatt Hotel, RK Puram.
A look out circular (LOC) was issued by the Delhi police against Pandey, who hails from Lucknow. His brother, Ritesh Pandey, is a sitting MLA in Uttar Pradesh, a PTI report said. The Delhi Police said an FIR has been registered under the Arms Act and various sections of the IPC, including those related to causing hurt (323), criminal intimidation (506) and using force with the intent to outrage the modesty of a woman (354), reports the agency.
Why the ugly brawl took place
Police said the security staff of the hotel told them that the accused and the victims were partying at a nightclub in the hotel and had an argument over using the washroom. A woman accompanying the accused abused the victims and called them “transgenders”, a senior official privy to the probe was quoted by PTI. It is suspected that both the parties involved were drunk at the time of the incident, he said.
According to police, the fact whether the gun was licenced or not could be established only after the accused is arrested. Initially, the case was registered under the Arms Act and sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were added later, the police said, adding the complaint about the incident was received on Monday. However, the complaint was registered only after the police approached the hotel on the basis of the viral video. The assistant security manager of the hotel registered the complaint on Monday.
Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Ajay Chaudhary said the incident took place on October 14 at 3.40 am. “No complaint was lodged by the victim and the hotel staff on the same day. There is negligence on the part of three parties — the victim, hotel authorities and the accused,” he said.
Hyatt Regency assures cooperation in the investigation
The hotel authorities said Tuesday that they are fully cooperating with the police and take the incident very seriously. “We take the incident that occurred at Hyatt Regency, Delhi, on seriously and have been working with the local police authorities on the same,” the hotel said in a statement it issued today.
The safety & security of our guests is our primary concern. We take the incident seriously & have been working with the local police authorities on the same: Hyatt Regency Delhi on Ashish Pandey, son of former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey, seen brandishing a gun outside the hotel pic.twitter.com/HxtVz35UIg
— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018
“We assure our support and will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities in reference to any further investigation on this matter,” it said.
The victim’s version
When approached by a TV news channel, one of the victims said that the accused, who held the gun, walked up to him and hurled abuses. “A man with a gun hurled abuses at us and walked up threateningly. I was intimidated and scared. The hotel staff were present at the spot. They tried to intervene but could not as they were also scared,” the victim claimed.
Political reactions
The Aam Aadmi Party left no stone unturned in targetting the Centre over the incident and said that central government which controls the Delhi Police has failed to maintain law and order in the city. Party spokesperson Dilip Pandey said the BJP-ruled Centre should answer why it has no control over the system, which it supervises through the lieutenant governor (LG), and asked what steps are being taken by police to check the growing crime rate in the city.
Reacting over the incident, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia said law and order is no one’s priority. The priority is to frame AAP MLAs in fake cases, he told ANI. “Law&order is no one’s priority. Priority is to frame AAP MLAs in fake cases. The day law & order is made priority, it’ll be on right track. It’s a 5-star hotel in VIP area, how did this happen?” he was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Delhi Police has initiated action on this incident which is also being shown in the media. FIR has been registered under Arms Act and IPC. Strong and appropriate action will be taken. Also verifying the identity of others. pic.twitter.com/hoav5AP8M7
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 16, 2018
BJP Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said a proper investigation must be done in the incident as evidence is in the form of CCTV footage. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the police had initiated action in the case. “The Delhi Police has initiated action on this incident which is also being shown in the media. An FIR has been registered under the Arms Act and the IPC. Strong and appropriate action will be taken. Also verifying the identity of others,” the minister tweeted.
Congress leader and Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra also expressed serious concern over the law and order situation in the city following the incident. “I really fear for the safety of our children and the people of our city, the capital of our country,” he said in a Facebook post. “What is the Law and Order prevailing and who is accountable? Has the Chief Minister seen what is existing and will they make an example of this insane behaviour with guns and profanity?” he said.
However, the father of the victim, ex-Congress MLA Kanwar Karan Singh said today that his son, who was shown gun by the son of former BSP MP, was in trauma and therefore did not inform the police, reports PTI. “We have given our version to police and submitted our written statement. We were in trauma after the incident. My son was shown a gun and he was in fear and that is why we did not lodge a complaint before,” he told the new agency.