Sons of two politicians: One on run, the other living in fear
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LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: On Sunday, when Ashish Pandey, a former Parliamentarian’s son was brandishing a pistol at a five-star south Delhi hotel on Sunday, very few onlookers knew that the man he was threatening was the son of a prominent Delhi politician.
Two days later, Ashish continues to evade multiple police teams hot on his trail, while victim, Gaurav Singh, continues to remain in fear and has gone into ‘hiding’.
“He is staying at one of our relative’s home in Delhi-ncr. He gave a written complaint on the police’s persuasion, but he doesn’t feel safe,” said Gaurav’s father Kanwar Karan Singh, a former three-time MLA from Delhi’s Model Town constituency.
Sources said Ashish’s family owns a number of businesses — real estate, construction, sugar mills, resorts, rice mills, a steel unit, a cooking oil unit, agriculture and a brick kiln.
Far away from the national capital, Ashish’s father, former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey, has built his business empire that spreads across his home district Ambedkar Nagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, parts of Maharashtra and Delhi. In political circles, Rakesh is infamous for his clout and muscle power.
According to the Rakesh’s affidavit submitted to the Election Commission before the 2014 Lok Sabha election, his movable assets were worth ₹17.26 crore and his wife Manju owned assets worth ₹8.19 crore. His immovable property was worth ₹1.49 crore and that of his wife was ₹2.37 crore. In the affidavit, Rakesh, however, does not mention the assets owned by his sons Ritesh Pandey, who is the BSP MLA from Jalalpur, and Ashish.
Rakesh also owns commercial buildings i n Faizabad and Ambedkar Nagar, residential flats in Andheri West of Mumbai and Allahabad.
A family member, who did not wish to be named, said, “Rakesh has mentioned in his affidavit the properties and companies that he owns. Ashish is managing his father’s business and a majority of the properties are owned by him, including residential and commercial buildings in Lucknow, Delhi and Uttarakhand. The construction company run by him has built apartments in Mumbai, Delhi and various cities of UP.”
According to the affidavit, Rakesh and his wife own several pistols, guns and rifles. Ashish’s uncles, former MLA Pawan Pandey and Krishna Kant Pandey, also own weapons. Ashish owns a pistol and a rifle, brandishing which he has posted his pictures on Facebook.
While Ashish has studied in Marshall School in Dehradun, Ritesh completed his graduation in international business from European Business School, London, before joining politics.
Gaurav’s parents, meanwhile, had declared more than ₹6.7 crore worth of assets when his father Kanwar Karan Singh was contesting elections in 2015. These included ₹3.2 crore in moveable assets, of which nearly ₹2.1 crore was bank debts. Their immovable assets are worth more than ₹3.5 crore. Among their many business interests, the family own a fuel station in Delhi.
The Singh family— Gaurav, his parents, his wife and their daughter — lives in Rajpura village in Model Town. “My son has never been involved in any untoward incident earlier. He has a clean record with no criminal cases. He is traumatised with all that is happening to him right now,” said Karan.
Karan, however, had a few criminal cases lodged against him in the past, of which he claims one continues to stand. A case, pertaining to land encroachment and tax evasion, was lodged against him in 2014 on court orders. “The court has ordered a stay in that case,” Karan said.
“I am still an active member of the Congress party,” said Gaurav’s father, Karan, who won from the Model Town seat in the 1998, 2003 and 2008 assembly elections.
In his complaint to the police on Tuesday, Gaurav said he feared for the life of his little daughter and sought police protection. “...I am scared for my life and I don’t want my family threatened. I have a small child. I am scared for my life. Please provide me protection...,” his complaint read.