Noida: Shrikant Tyagi, who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly abusing and assaulting a woman in Noida, on Tuesday told media persons that the woman was like his sister and that a conspiracy was hatched to "politically decimate" him.
"I express my regret on the incident. She is like my sister, the incident is political and was done to politically decimate me," said Tyagi while being taken from the court.
Tyagi, who identifies himself on social media as a national executive member of the BJP's Kisan Morcha, was arrested along with three others in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district and was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Tuesday.
His arrest comes a day after bulldozers tore down the illegal construction outside his house at the Grand Omaxe housing society in Noida's Sector-93B.
Earlier, Noida police said Shrikant Tyagi was using a VVIP sticker on his vehicle given to him by SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.
On Monday, the police arrested six of his supporters for entering the Grand Omaxe society late Sunday evening without being permitted entry and asking about the address of the woman who was manhandled by Tyagi.
Tyagi was booked by the Noida Police for allegedly abusing and assaulting a woman following a spat on the premises of Grand Omaxe in Noida Sector 93B. Tyagi, following which, was on the run.
The incident took place when the woman objected to the plantation of some trees by Tyagi, citing a violation of rules even as he claimed he was within his rights to do so.
CP Alok Singh said that the video of the said incident on August 5, 2022, came to light through the social media monitoring team. However, the matter was not reported to the police by the victim. The victim was contacted by the police. Then a case was lodged and a search for the accused was started.
Initially, eight teams were constituted to apprehend Shrikant Tyagi. But he could not be traced as he was changing his locations and mobile devices.
A massive team effort was launched. The number of teams was increased to 12. He was continuously being chased, the police said. Tyagi was constantly changing his locations and mobile devices. He went to Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Haridwar, and Rishikesh.
After a massive search operation, Tyagi was arrested along with the people harboring him during these 3-4 days. Noida Police had said that IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 447 (punishment for criminal trespass) have been added to the FIR registered on Friday.