Hi, this is Hot Mic and I'm Nidhi Razdan.
Remember this guy? Shrikant Tyagi, the alleged BJP politician from Noida seen abusing a woman on this video, which went viral, has finally been arrested by the UP police from Meerut. Tyagi was on the run since Friday night, after the video clip was circulated widely on social media, which showed him physically and verbally abusing a woman resident of Noida's Grand Omaxe Society, over illegal structures at his home. The arrest comes after Tyagi's lawyer moved a surrender application in a Greater Noida court and the UP police announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for any information about him. Police say that Tyagi was arrested from his aide's home on the outskirts of Meerut. He had planned to go to Saharanpur via Dehradun, Haridwar and Rishikesh and was in touch with his wife and lawyer, they say. So who exactly is Shrikant Tyagi? Because that's been at the heart of this entire controversy.
Now, Tyagi has claimed to be a member of the BJP's Kisan Morcha and his social media handles are full of photos of him with several top BJP leaders, including party chief JP Nadda. But the BJP has repeatedly denied that Tyagi is associated with the party. They say anyone can take a picture with politicians. But a report in the Indian Express says that Tyagi was very much a part of the BJP and was appointed national coordinator of its Kisan Morcha's Yuva Kisan Samiti in 2018. The Express has shown Tyagi's appointment letter dated August 27th, 2018 and goes on to say that a BJP leader whose tenure coincided with Tyagi's told the Express that the letter was genuine and that Tyagi was part of the team from August 2018 to April 2021. It also turns out that Tyagi even got police protection for more than a year between October of 2018 and February of 2020. So he does appear to have had a clear link with the ruling party.
Residents of the Omaxe society in Noida have accused Tyagi of threatening and intimidating them. Last week, the argument started when the woman resident objected to Mr. Tyagi planting some trees in the society's common area, citing violation of rules. He claimed that he was well within his rights to do so. After the video went viral, some of his supporters even went back to the Housing Society and started asking about the woman in the video who had confronted him. This led to a face-off between residents and those supporters, and police eventually rushed in and brought the situation under control.
As the UP police started looking for Tyagi, they also found that he was a serial offender with as many as nine criminal cases against him, including attempt to murder and extortion. The first case was registered in 2007 for extortion. In the second case also filed in 2007, Tyagi was slapped with a GOONDA act. The third case was registered in 2008 and for culpable homicide. A fourth case was registered in 2009 for rioting and breach of peace. The fifth case filed in the same year was for causing damage. In 2015, another case was registered against Shrikant Tyagi for beating and threatening a person. While in 2020, a seventh case was filed against him for assault, threatening and attempt to murder. The eighth case was registered this year for misbehaving, threatening and beating a woman. While the ninth case was registered for forgery and fraud for putting an MLA sticker on his car.
On the back foot over Tyagi's viral video, on Monday, a bulldozer rolled into the residential society in Noida and brought down the illegal structures at Tyagi's residence. After his arrest, police say they found several vehicles belonging to Tyagi as well. One of them had an assembly pass meant for MLAs and a flag of the BJP, while another car had BJP Yuva Morcha written all over it. The administration also found that Tyagi's family owns about 50 shops in Noida and receives lakhs of rupees in rent. So what happens with him next? Watch this space.