Delhi court dismisses bail plea of Ashish Pandey, sends BSP leader's gun brandishing son to judicial custody till Monday

Dismissing the bail plea of Ashish Pandey, who was seen brandishing a gun and threatening a man outside a five-star hotel in the city, Delhi’s Patiala House court on Friday sent him to judicial custody till Monday. On Thursday, the court had accepted the surrender plea submitted by Pandey, after the court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him on Wednesday. Pandey, who is the son of former Bahujan Samaj Party MP Rakesh Pandey, was missing since 14 October when the incident occurred outside the Hyatt Regency. In a video statement, which was  tweeted out by journalists on Thursday, Pandey claimed that he was branded as a wanted criminal by the media and is a victim of a media trial. [caption id=“attachment_5403121” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image of Ashish Pandey. Twitter/@rohanduaTOI[/caption] “I am being projected like I’m a wanted terrorist and that the police across the nation is looking for me. I am not denying that the incident never took place that night. A lookout circular has been issued against me. I learnt about this two to three days later when the video went viral. However, this entire incident is being shown through one perspective.  If you check the CCTV footage, you’ll find who went to the ladies toilet that night and who threatened whom,” he said. In the video, Pandey also claimed that CCTV footage of the events that took place inside the hotel should be examined. He claimed that he was threatened but does not mention any name. He proceeds to say that statements from the security personnel as well as the staff of the hotel should be taken to find out what actually happened. Further, in the video, Pandey said, “I admit that I did take the gun while getting down from the car for my safety. I didn’t brandish it. It was hanging behind me all the time. There have been allegations that I had threatened that girl. I didn’t even address that girl, she pushed me and made obscene hand gestures. I will share the details with the cops in my statement. I have faith in the judiciary and so I have decided to surrender. There is no history of any police case against me.” The video of the incident at Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Delhi prompted the police to step in and launch a hunt for the accused who had gone missing after the incident. Pandey’s brother Ritesh Pandey is a sitting MLA from Uttar Pradesh. With inputs from PTI