Self-styled politician Shrikant Tyagi, who was seen in a video assaulting a woman at a housing society in Noida, managed to dodge police for three days before luck ran out and he was arrested from Meerut on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference, Noida Police commissioner Alok Singh said 12 teams were formed to arrest Tyagi after the woman lodged a complaint on August 5.
"Police themselves contacted the victim and acting on her complaint, a search was started for Tyagi. He was constantly changing places and hiding himself. However, with the help of technical and human intelligence and CCTV, we kept following him. His asylum seekers were tracked and finally Tyagi was arrested along with his three associates," Singh said.
The Noida Police chief said Tyagi first headed to Delhi airport after the video of him assaulting the woman co-resident of Grand Omaxe society went viral. However, he changed tracks fearing that he would get caught.
The Noida Police declared him "absconding" and announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest.
READ | Shrikant Tyagi, Accused In Omaxe Society Case, Arrested From Meerut
Alok Singh said Tyagi then went to Meerut, changed his mobile devices, and crossed the border into Uttarakhand. He reached Haridwar and then went to Rishikesh on Saturday. On Sunday, he came back to Uttar Pradesh and spent the night in Meerut. He then went to Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat to hoodwink the police.
"For three days, police were behind him and we kept tracking every vehicle. His companions Nakul Tyagi and Sanjay and driver Rahul were also arrested," Alok Singh said.
Tyagi revealed during interrogation that the sticker of the UP Assembly Secretariat that was installed in his vehicle was given by SP leader and former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya. "The sticker on his car was provided by Swami Prasad Maurya. The state emblem was made by himself and the purpose was to create an atmosphere of fear," Alok Singh said.
Tyagi has claimed to be the national executive member of the BJP's Kisan Morcha and the national co-coordinator of its Yuva Samiti. However, BJP has denied any links with him.
The Opposition has hit out at the BJP and shared purported pictures of Tyagi with senior BJP leaders, including its national president J P Nadda.
Last week, a video went viral on social media showing Tyagi hurling expletives and assaulting a woman at Noida's Grand Omaxe after she objected to him planting trees in the common area of the housing society.
An FIR was lodged and Tyagi was booked under Indian Penal Code section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty).
Later, charges under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of public peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 447 (criminal trespass) were also added in the case.
On Monday, Tyagi moved a court in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district through his lawyer with a plea for surrender-related procedures. The hearing in the matter has been listed for August 10.