Noida: The BJP leadership distanced itself Shrikant Tyagi, the self-proclaimed BJP leader, who is accused of outraging a woman's modesty of a woman during an argument over the plantation of palm trees near his apartment at a residential society here.
The BJP said that Tyagi was never part of the party. Tyagi's social media accounts, however, tell a different tale.
On his official Twitter handle, Tyagi presents himself as a devoted party leader having pictures with a range of senior saffron party functionaries. He also posted multiple edited images that had BJP's logo. Tyagi, however, locked his Twitter account hours after the incident.
"We have seized a total of three cars -- one Toyota Fortuner, one Tata Safari and one Honda Civic -- that belong to Tyagi," a Noida Police official told IANS.
To trace his location, the police have detained four persons, including Tyagi's wife.
"We have constituted four teams that are working to nab the accused. We have also detained his wife for questioning," the official said.
Apart from Tyagi's wife, the police have detained his brother, driver and manager. "All of them are currently being questioned," informed the official.
The matter came to light on Friday when several video clippings of the incident went viral on social media in which the Tyagi could be heard hurling abuses at the woman. Social media users also shared the response of the victim woman in which she narrated the entire incident.
"I live in Grand Omaxe. A man named Shrikant Tyagi, residing on the ground floor, was encroaching the society by planting small and large plants in the common area. When I asked him to remove them, he refused. And when I tried to remove them, he hurled abuses at me, my husband and our kids," the woman said.
In the same video, the residents of the society could also be seen accusing Tyagi of encroaching the area by planting small and large plants.
As per one of the videos of the incident, accessed by IANS, Tyagi could also be seen pushing and threatening the woman. "Don't you dare touch my plants otherwise I will see you...," he could be heard saying.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ankita Sharma, informed that soon after the video went viral on social media, Noida Police registered an FIR under Section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC at the Panchsheel police station.
The officer assured that the accused would soon be arrested and punitive legal action will be taken against him.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Saturday took cognisance of the incident and wrote to Uttar Pradesh DGP in this matter. NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma asked the police to provide necessary protection to the victim.
IANS with edits