Encroachments done by Tyagi at Noida high-rise razed

Around 9am on Monday, officials of the Noida Authority reached Grand Omaxe society in Sector 93B with bulldozers and demolished ‘verandas’ built by Tyagi before his ground floor flat, which were allegedly encroaching the common area of the society

Bulldozers rolled into a residential society in Noida on Monday and brought down illegal structures raised by Shrikant Tyagi, the self-proclaimed BJP worker, who was caught on camera assaulting and abusing a woman resident of the housing society.

Police personnel at Omaxe Grand housing society in Noida on Monday. (Sunil Ghosh/ HT)

Tyagi, who was later booked by the Noida Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to outraging the modesty of a woman and criminal intimidation, is on the run. The police on Monday announced a reward of ₹25,000 on the information leading to his arrest.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has sought a report from the home department about the case. A state government spokesperson on Monday said the CM directed the home department for a detailed investigation into the case as well as stern action against the accused who was on the run. “Action should also be taken against the guilty policemen and officers. Crime against women will not be tolerated,” the CM said.

Around 9am on Monday, officials of the Noida Authority reached Grand Omaxe society in Sector 93B with bulldozers and demolished ‘verandas’ built by Tyagi before his ground floor flat, which were allegedly encroaching the common area of the society.

“Noida Authority hired workers and bulldozers and demolished the illegal structures built by Shrikant Tyagi in the common area of the society. The bulldozers were used to demolish the veranda constructed with fibre glass roof and iron pillars in the common area,” said a senior official of Noida Authority.

Tyagi allegedly encroached upon a portion of the common area in front of his flat by constructing temporary structures using pillars and tiles. “He had covered his balcony and extended it using concrete pillars, fibre glass and tiles. In addition to this, in the rear area too, similar veranda structure was razed extending from Tyagi’s flat,” the authority officials added.

The row started when residents of the society removed trees allegedly planted by Tyagi in the common area. Later, a video showing Tyagi, who identified himself as the national executive member of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha and national co-coordinator of its Yuva Samiti, abusing and heckling a woman went viral on social media.

Manoj Gupta, district president of the Noida Mahanagar BJP unit, on Friday said that Tyagi is not a member of the party. “Tyagi was never a BJP worker and we are standing in support of the society residents against this imposter.”

When asked about the action against Tyagi on Monday, he added, “BJP stands against hooliganism, especially those who disrespect women. GB Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma is closely monitoring the developments in the case and has directed police officials to nab the suspect soon”.

The Apartment Owners’ Association of the society distributed sweets to celebrate the action against encroachments done by Tyagi. However, some residents said that the police action has been delayed.

“On demand of the residents, we distributed sweets among the society members as we had been raising the issue of encroachment for the past three years. However, the fight will only culminate when Tyagi is arrested,” said Avinash Mathur, president of Grand Omaxe Association of Apartment Owners (GOAAO)

Swati Aggarwal, a resident of the society said, “We are relieved that the authority has taken action against his illegal ways. However, it has been two days now and he is yet to be arrested. We demand that Tyagi should be arrested soon”.

Meanwhile, Tyagi submitted an application at the Gautam Budh Nagar district court on Monday, offering to surrender. The court has posted the matter for hearing on August 10.

According to court officials, the application was moved in the court of additional civil judge Noopur Shrivastava. “The court has examined the matter and has sought a report from the local police station. The next hearing has been scheduled for August 10,” the judge said.

Tyagi’s lawyer Sushil Bhati said, “My client’s wife and children, who have nothing to do with this matter, are facing problems. The family is scared due to continuous media and police presence at their home in Noida”.

Love Kumar, joint commissioner of police (law and order) said the Gautam Budh Nagar police has received information about the surrender application. “The local police has been instructed to provide information asked by the court,” he said.

Senior police officers have said that vigilance has been stepped up at the Surajpur Court campus following Tyagi’s application. “However, Tyagi was not physically present at the campus on Monday,” an officer said.

Tyagi has been absconding since Friday’s incident. Sources have said that his last location was traced in Uttarakhand. However, the Uttarakhand police said they have no information about Tyagi’s location, and added that they were yet to be contacted by their Uttar Pradesh counterparts for assistance in the case.

Dehradun senior superintendent of police Dilip Singh Kunwar said he had received a call from Noida police commissioner, but he did not share any specific information about Tyagi’s location in Rishikesh. “If any information is shared with us, we will take action,” Kunwar said.

Earlier on Sunday night, the Gautam Budh Nagar police said in an official statement that the in-charge of Phase-2 police station has been suspended. The society falls under the Phase-2 police station limits.

Sujeet Upadhyay, the in-charge of the Phase 2 police station, was suspended and replaced by Inspector Paramhans Tiwari, said an official. In addition to this, a sub-inspector and four constables of the local police station were also suspended, officials said.

The action came after a group of Tyagi’s stormed the Grand Omaxe Society and sought the address of the woman with whom the self-proclaimed politician was involved in the verbal spat on Friday. Police personnel from Phase 2 reached the society and detained six men while four others managed to escape.

“An FIR was registered against the ten people under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Six were arrested by the police and sent to jail after being presented before a judicial magistrate.Teams have been deployed to nab the other four suspects. All of them are residents of Ghaziabad,” said Rajesh S, deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida).

The arrested suspects have been identified as Nitin Tyagi, Lokendra Tyagi, Rahul Tyagi, Churchil Rana, Prince Tyagi and Ravi Pandit. They have been booked under 10 sections of IPC relating to rioting, criminal trespass, criminal intimidation and others.

Following this, Gautam Budh Nagar Member of Parliament Mahesh Sharma also reached the spot and spoke to the residents and media present there. The MP called Awanish Awasthi, additional chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh government and asked him to find out how unidentified men had barged into the society.

A video of the conversation went viral on social media and was shared by Congress and other opposition parties, taking a jibe at the Yogi Adityanath government.

District police commissioner Alok Singh and district magistrate Suhas LY had also visited the society on Sunday night to spoke to the residents.

Later on Monday, additional director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said that the complainant in the case has been provided with personal security officers (PSOs) and police teams are working to nab Tyagi.

“UP government and the state’s police chief have made it clear that such incidents will not be tolerated. Action has been taken against officials responsible for negligence. Police are using human intelligence and techincal surveillance in order to catch Tyagi. The matter is being closely monitored by UP government and DGP, UP,” he said.

Police officers said that the Gangster Act will be added to the FIR against Tyagi. “We are in the process of adding Gangster Act to the FIR and strictest action will be taken against him,” said Love Kumar, joint commissioner of police, GB Nagar.

The UP Gangster Act allows the authority concerned to attach properties of gangsters who it believes have acquired any property, whether movable or immovable, as a result of the commission of an offence liable to be prosecuted under this Act.

Tyagi has been booked under Section 354 (outraging modesty of woman and assault) on Friday. On Saturday, more sections were added to the FIR by the police. “Sections 447 (Punishment for criminal trespass), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation.) were added to the FIR as per further investigation in the case,” said Kumar.