Ashish Pandey surrenders, sent to police custody
New Delhi: Ending the police's chase, Ashish Pandey – wanted in an Arms Act case for brandishing a pistol at a couple in Hyatt Regency Hotel – surrendered before the Patiala House Court on Thursday.
Pandey surrendered at around 11 am and was sent to one-day police custody. On Wednesday, a non-bailable warrant was issued against him by the court.
The incident took place on Saturday evening, immediately after which a case was registered at RK Puram Police station in south west Delhi.
The surrender application, filed through Pandey's lawyer, stated that he was wrongly framed in the FIR and subjected to a media trial.
After the Delhi Police sought Pandey's custody for four days, his lawyer said that the arrest is not necessary as they are willing to submit the pistol licence for verification and probe.
Appearing in the courtroom in a white shirt, Pandey – the son of former Bahujan Samaj Party MP Rakesh Pandey – attended the court proceedings in a calm and composed manner.
A team of Delhi Police soon arrived at the court premises, amidst hundreds of cameras waiting outside the gates of the Patiala House Court. After the court granted him one-day police custody, he was frisked away by the police team as reporters tried to get a few words out of him.
Pandey had been on the run since a video went viral showing him at the foray of the five-star Hyatt Regency Hotel, threatening Gaurav Singh, the son of a former Congress lawmaker from Delhi, and his female friend with a gun.
The row had reportedly started in the hotel's ladies toilet. Singh, the man Pandey was shown threatening in the video, had followed the woman friend into the restroom.
A scuffle ensued when a group of women, supposedly Ashish's friends, entered.
One of the women sitting in Ashish's car had shot the video..
'I'm being projected like a wanted terrorist'
New Delhi: In an attempt to clear the air minutes before he surrender, Ashish Pandey was seen narrating his version of events outside the Patiala House Court complex on Thursday, adding that he has full faith in judiciary.
Upset with the media trial, he said that is not a crime to be a politician's son and a brother.
"I'm being projected like a wanted terrorist and the police across the nation is looking for me. A lookout circular was issued against me. If you check the CCTV footage, you'll find who went to the ladies' toilet that night and who threatened whom,"
Pandey claimed he did not "brandish the gun, it was hanging behind me all the time".
He further said that the woman he was accused of threatening had pushed him and made obscene gestures at him.
