Four-month-old video lands 3 behind bars in Greater Noida

The 13-second video shows a man grabbing a rope after tying a police barricade to the SUV. He then dragged the police barricade at high speed

Three men were arrested in Greater Noida on Monday after a four-month-old video went viral on social media on Sunday evening, allegedly showing them dragging a police barricade behind their SUV and flashing a fake pistol, police said.

Police said that a case was registered at Dankaur police station on Monday. (HT Photo)

The 13-second video shows a man grabbing a rope after tying a police barricade to the SUV. He then dragged the police barricade at high speed along an isolated road in Greater Noida. The man who grabbed the rope also flashed a pistol that was lying on the back seat.

“After the video went viral, we took cognizance and tracked down the suspects with the help of the registration number of the vehicle seen in the video. The suspects were identified as Nishant Pandit, his brother Saurabh Pandit—both residents of Habibpur in Ecotech 3—and Aryaket Singh, a resident of Chauganpur in Ecotech 3,” said Munendra Singh, Station House Officer, Dankaur Police Station.

Police said that a case was registered at Dankaur police station on Monday.

The arrested accused. (HT Photo)

“During interrogation, Nishant and his friend Aryaket revealed that they had gone to attend a marriage in Saurabh’s Mahindra Scorpio. Saurabh had received the vehicle as dowry. While returning home to Greater Noida, Aryaket allegedly tied a police barricade to the SUV using a rope and dragged it for a few kilometres near the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) in Dankaur, Greater Noida, for amusement and to record a video to show off,” he added.

The SHO added, “Nishant was driving the car at the time of the incident. The video, which was recorded by Aryaket, was downloaded by someone from his social media account, after which it went viral on Sunday evening.”

Police said that Nishant and Aryaket are students at a government college in Greater Noida. “Saurabh was arrested for providing his vehicle to Nishant, and it was revealed that the gun seen in the video was a lighter. A case of public nuisance under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against them at Dankaur police station on Monday, and further investigation is underway,” said SHO Singh, adding that the SUV was also seized.