Noida, Aug 9 (UNI) Shrikant Tyagi, accused of misbehaving with a woman in Grand Omaxe Society in Noida, was arrested along with three others near Meerut on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Alok Singh said.
Singh said, "Tyagi was arrested near Meerut along with Nakul Tyagi, Sanjay and his first driver Rahul. Nakul and Sanjay are old accomplices of Tyagi and they have been associated with him since long. Action under the Gangster Act is also being taken against him."
He said that a vehicle bearing a pass meant for the MLAs has been recovered. "When quizzed, the accused told the police that the pass was provided to him by his old political associate Swami Prasad Maurya. We are verifying it and further action will be taken on the basis of the evidence," he said.
It may be noted that Maurya is a leader of the main opposition party Samajwadi Party (SP) and is currently a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
Giving details of the incident the CP said that on August 5 social media monitoring cell of the Noida police received a video related to sector 93 on which the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Women Safety) directed the Station House Officer of the police station concerned to take immediate action.
He said, "The police reached to the victim and on the basis of a written complaint given by her lodged an FIR after which a manhunt was launched to trace Tyagi. Initially 8 teams were constituted for the arrest of the main accused which was subsequently raised to 12 and the manhunt was intensified."
Singh said that Tyagi travelled to several places during this period, including Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and up to Rishikesh via Haridwar. "Initially, he planned to go to Delhi airport, but as the video went viral by that time the accused changed his plan and went to Meerut where he spent the night there," he said.
He said that on Saturday Tyagi changed his devices (mobile phones) and went to Rishikesh via Haridwar, but as the massive police hunt was going out he came back to UP on Sunday and changed his devices again in the evening. We tracked his every new identity, vehicle and device," he said.
The CP said that all the vehicles of Tyagi have a specific number of 001 series. "During quizzing he said that he bid for these numbers and none of the numbers cost less than Rs 1.10 lakh. His driver got a logo of UP government painted on the number plate of one of the vehicles and misused it.
He said that illegitimate properties of Tyagi are also being identified and action will be taken against them. "Total five vehicles, including four SUVs, have been recovered. Some of the vehicles are registered in Tyagi's name and some of them are in his wife's name," he said.
Regarding gunners being provided to Tyagi, Singh said, "Gunners were made available to him till 2020 by the police of the neighbouring district Ghaziabad. A high-level inquiry is already being conducted on it."
He said that a dispute on the use of common space in the Grand Omaxe Society started in 2019. "The initial dispute was related to how to use the common space and who will use it. Initially it was within the society and later went to the Noida Authority," he said.
It may be noted that a shocking video of Tyagi abusing a family went viral on Friday. On Saturday the main accused was booked and his wife and six others were detained.
Tyagi, who claimed to be a BJP Kisan Morcha leader, was booked after the viral video showed the woman complaining that he used bad words for her, her husband and even her children. Tyagi was seen pushing her and even allegedly threatening her with dire consequences in the purported video.
The victim had objected to Tyagi planting trees in her housing society. A separate FIR was lodged against Tyagi for using the logo of the UP government on his vehicle.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took serious cognizance of the incident and sought a report from the Home Department after which Noida Authority swung into action and illegal construction erected by Tyagi in Grand Omaxe Society was demolished. The police also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest.
In addition to this six policemen, including an Inspector and a Sub-Inspector, were suspended on Monday in connection with the Grand Omaxe Society case, wherein Shrikant Tyagi misbehaved with a woman.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar had said the government and the DGP UP have taken a serious cognizance of the unfortunate incident in sector 93 wherein Shrikant Tyagi is misbehaving with a woman.
Kumar had said, "Inspector In-charge of Phase 2 police station has been suspended. "After the incident an SI and four constables were posted in the society for security. They have been suspended for dereliction of duty."
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