Hotel fight: Gun-toting Pandey in custody

Ashish Pandey, a former parliamentarian’s son, who threatened a man with a pistol at a luxury hotel four days ago surrendered in a court here yesterday and was arrested. He claimed he was innocent of any wrongdoing.

Pandey, the son of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Rakesh Pandey and brother of BSP MLA Ritesh Pandey, was taken into police custody for a day soon after he gave himself up before Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmendra Singh at the Patiala House Court.

Pandey was on the run since the early Sunday morning incident at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here when a video clip showed him threatening a man who was with a woman by holding a pistol in his right hand.

The hotel did not report the matter to the police, which has also filed a case against Hyatt.

In a video clip released yesterday, Pandey alleged that the entire incident was being reported in a biased way. “The CCTV footage should be shown to clarify who entered the ladies’ washroom and who threatened whom,” said a subdued Pandey, speaking in Hindi. “I accept I moved out of my car with a weapon (but) neither did I point it at anyone nor did I show it,” he said in the message addressed to the media.

On Wednesday, a nonbailable warrant was issued against him by the court after an FIR was lodged.

According to police, Pandey’s argument took place in the porch area of the hotel.

Pandey stressed he doesn’t have a criminal record. “Not even a single case has been filed against me. It was a licensed weapon,” he said, adding the man he had the scuffle with at the hotel “threatened to kill me”.