Setback for gun-goon Ashish Pandey as Delhi court rejects bail plea; Grants judicial custody

The Delhi Patiala House Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Ashish Pandey, who was seen brandishing a gun outside a five star hotel in New Delhi on October 14.

Former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey's son Ashish was seen threatening a couple in Delhi's Hyatt Regency. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: The Delhi Patiala House Court on Friday dismissed the bail plea of Ashish Pandey, son of former BJP MP, who was seen brandishing a gun outside a five star hotel in New Delhi on October 14. The court has extended his judicial custody till Monday. The Uttar Pradesh Police, on October 18, seized Pandey’s gun and vehicle from his family home in Lucknow. After dodging from Police for days, Pandey finally surrendered before the Patiala House Court on Thursday after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. He was immediately arrested and taken into one-day police custody. When asked about why he was on the run, Pandey told police he was hiding in UP’s Basti district along with his wife and child as he got scared after the video went viral on social media. Statement of the accused was recorded soon after he surrendered himself and the sequence of event as told by him is being verified by the police officials. In a video, Pandey can be seen defending himself by saying that he did not brandish his gun. “It was hanging behind me all the time. I didn’t even address the girl, instead she pushed me and made obscene hand gestures,” he said. Ashish Pandey was hiding from Police since Sunday morning when the incident at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in national capital took place. This absence prompted the police to step in and launch a hunt for the accused who had gone missing after the incident. Inquiring into the incident and to know the whereabouts of Pandey, Police interrogated almost 50 people including his family members, friends and some employees of Hyatt Regency. Other three women who were seen with Pandey in the video forcing him to threaten the woman and her male friend have been identified but it is not clear whether they have left the country. According to report, police along with the Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRRO) are looking out for them.