A day after a video of local politician Shrikant Tyagi purportedly assaulting a woman and using abusive language against her in a Noida Society went viral, the Gautam Buddha Nagar administration launched a hunt for Mr. Tyagi and bulldozers brought down the illegal structure erected by him in the common area of Omaxe Grand, situated in Sector 93 B of Noida.
In the video, the woman could be seen questioning him for encroaching on the common area of the Society.
After two FIRs, the Uttar Pradesh Police have announced a reward of ₹25,000 on the arrest of Mr. Tyagi. Six policemen, including the Station House Officer of the local police station, have been suspended for laxity. The woman who stood up to Mr. Tyagi has been provided security, Prashant Kumar, Additional Director-General of Uttar Pradesh Police (law and order), said.
On Sunday evening, six supporters of Mr. Tyagi were arrested for trespassing after they were seen looking for the woman.
Though photos of Mr. Tyagi with the BJP leaders emerged on social media and he identifies himself as the national executive member of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha, the party denied that Mr. Tyagi was a member of the party.
CM seeks report
Official sources said the Chief Minister’s Office was following the case by the hour. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sought a report from the Home department.
Local residents said Mr. Tyagi moved like a VIP in luxury cars, whose number plates were embossed with ‘Uttar Pradesh government’, with a posse of private security guards and often intimidated the local residents and threatened those who questioned him. “He had erected a portico well beyond the flat and covered it by planting trees around it,” said a resident of Omaxe Grand, surprised that Mr. Tyagi was not an MP or MLA. When the bulldozers brought down the structure, the residents clapped and sweets were distributed.
Hailing from the Muradnagar area of Ghaziabad, Mr. Tyagi already has eight cases against him, seven of them are in the Phase 2 police station, where the Society is situated. He has been booked under serious Sections of the IPC, including the Goondas Act.
Till late evening, Mr. Tyagi remained out of the reach of eight police teams. Police sources said his mobile activity was picked up in Uttarakhand. Meanwhile, Mr. Tyagi’s advocates approached a local court for surrender, sending the Noida Police into a tizzy.
Sushil Tyagi, lawyer of Mr. Tyagi said his client believed in law and he was not absconding.
“He has made a mistake but the incident has been made bigger than what it is. As soon as the court opened on Monday, he moved an application for surrender. The CJM will hear us on Wednesday.”
After the video went viral, the case gained traction when Gautam Buddha Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma raised the issue with senior officials. He said he was feeling ashamed about the delay in action. On Monday, he said, “Baba’s bulldozer doesn’t discriminate on the basis of caste, religion and status.”
Noida MLA Pankaj Singh said, “Mr. Tyagi was not a BJP member but even if he was, he would not have been spared.”
In Ghaziabad, members of the Tyagi community threatened to organise a caste panchayat but it was called off after the administration intervened.
Describing the action in Noida as a show-off, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked whether the BJP government didn't know for so many years that the construction carried out by Mr. Tyagi was illegal.
