He didn’t point gun at anyone: Friend defends BSP leader’s son on the run

Soon after a video of him brandishing a pistol at a five-star hotel in Delhi went viral on Tuesday, Ashish Pandey hurriedly took down his Facebook account that had enough photographs to suggest that he loved flaunting weapons.

There were photographs of him posing with a rifle, pistols, cartridges, daggers and Swiss knives. The Uttar Pradesh police said Ashish has a gun licence for the last 18 years, but are unsure if it is the same weapon he was seen waving in the video.

Rinku Upadhyay, who claimed to be a “close friend” of Ashish and his MLA brother Ritesh, said one should not read too much into the photographs on Facebook. “He has a fascination for weapons and likes to pose with them. He doesn’t need a licence to pose with others’ weapons. The pistol he was carrying was for his safety,” said Upadhyay. He was answering calls HT made to Ritesh’s cellphone.

Ashish comes from a family of politicians which is widely believed to have considerable clout in central UP’s Ambedkar Nagar. His father Rakesh Pandey won 2009 Lok Sabha election on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket from Ambedkar Nagar constituency. In the affidavit, Pandey mentioned he has three criminal cases against him in Lucknow, Faizabad and Ambedkar Nagar districts. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he lost the seat. Rakesh’s affidavit shows he was booked for offences such as murder, kidnapping for ransom, criminal conspiracy and wrongful restraint. The family is into multiple businesses and Ritesh and Rakesh together declared assets worth several crores.

Pawan Pandey, who is Ashish’s uncle, is an accused in the Babri mosque demolition case and has 32 criminal cases against him. In 2014, Pawan contested unsuccessfully on BSP ticket against BJP candidate Varun Gandhi on Sultanpur Lok Sabha election. Another uncle Krishna Kumar Pandey, a former Congress member, who later joined BSP, has half a dozen criminal cases.

In 2017, Ashish’s brother Ritesh secured victory from Jalalpur assembly seat, which is considered the family bastion in Ambedkar Nagar. The Pandey brothers were largely credited for the success of the party in the region. The brothers enjoy influence over voters in Faizabad, Ambedekar Nagar and Sultanpur districts and are said to be trying to make a comeback in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The BSP, meanwhile, on Tuesday distanced itself from Sunday night’s events and said Ashish was not a member of the party. “The police should probe the case and appropriate legal action should be taken against him,” a senior party leader said.

Another BSP leader said Ashish’s antics could spell trouble for his father and uncles who have been aspiring for a BSP ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party leadership cannot ignore the public outrage over his act, the BSP leader said.

Leader of the BSP legislature party, Lalji Verma and national general secretary Ramachal Rajbhar who secured victory in 2017 election from assembly seats in Ambedkar Nagar district could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. HT tried to contact Rakesh Pandey as well but there was no response.

Ashish is reportedly involved in real estate and owns petrol pumps. “He is educated in Australia and keeps away from politics. He has never even indulged in a street fight and has never been picked up by the police,” said Upadhyay, who claimed to handle Ritesh’s political affairs.

Upadhyay defended Sunday night’s event by saying it was a “non-issue”. “Does the video show him pointing his pistol at anyone? He was simply carrying the weapon at the time of the confrontation,” said Upadhyay.

The BMW in which Ashish had allegedly kept the pistol is registered in his name, said Devender Arya, deputy commissioner of police (south-west). Ashish had allegedly left for Lucknow immediately after the altercation.

While Upadhyay claimed that Ashish was in Delhi for business, police said he was at the hotel to meet a friend who had returned from abroad.