Airports alerted, police hunt for ex-BSP MP's son (Third Lead)

Authorities alerted airports and a Delhi Police team reached Lucknow on Tuesday in search of a former BSP MP's son who whipped out a pistol during a scuffle with a man at a luxury hotel in the national capital, officials said.

The three-member squad, led by Inspector Harish Chandra, went to Ashish Pandey's house and those of his relatives but could not find him, an officer said.

Pandey, son of former Bahujan Samaj Party MLA and MP Rakesh Pandey, pulled out the weapon during an argument with a man at the porch of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in south Delhi on Sunday around 3.40 a.m., police said.

In the video, Ashish Pandey and his friends can be heard abusing the man who used the ladies' washroom, police said.

Delhi's Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Chaudhry said: "We are afraid he (Pandey) might leave the country. So, a look-out circular has been issued at airports across the country.

"He doesn't live in Delhi. He has his residence in Lucknow... We are in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Police and will be able to arrest him soon," Chaudhry said.

Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to say that "strong and appropriate action will be taken" against the culprits including the friends of Ashish Pandey.

Police took suo motu cognizance of the incident, which Chaudhry said wasn't reported by the hotel authorities or by the people involved in the fight but was recorded in a video that went viral on the social media.

"It happened during a party at the hotel. Ashish had an argument with someone who used a ladies' washroom and the video that showed him brandishing a pistol went viral," he said.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is assisting the Delhi Police in the hunt for Ashish Pandey.

When the police team reached Pandey's house in Vaibhav Khand in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar area, a domestic help said that Pandey visited the place once or twice a month.

A case under the Arms Act and the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused.

Chaudhry said the hotel was yet to respond as to why the incident wasn't reported to the police.

Meanwhile, Hyatt Hotel issued a statement saying the safety of their guests was their primary concern and that they were working with the police in this direction.

--IANS

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