Kind employer, father, globetrotter: How his friends know ‘Pink Pants’ Ashish Pandey

Ashish Pandey brandishing a gun outside Hyaat hotel | Screengrab

Friends of Ashish Pandey, who made headlines after pulling a gun on a couple at a Delhi five-star hotel, say the media has been unfair to him.

New Delhi: Ashish Pandey, the son of a former MP and brother of an MLA in Uttar Pradesh, has been labeled a rich spoilt brat since a viral video showed him whipping out his pistol during a confrontation at a Delhi five-star last weekend.

But friends of the 40-year-old vehemently reject this portrayal, saying the Pandey they know is a teenager’s father and a law-abiding citizen, earnest taxpayer, a gentle and kind employer, as well as a travel junkie who’s been around the world and loves luxury cars.

On Thursday, as Pandey was escorted from the court where he surrendered after a week-long chase, a clash between his friends and Delhi Police looked imminent but Pandey was rushed away in time.

To Pandey’s friends, he “is a model citizen who has been portrayed as a gangster by the media”.

“They are calling him ‘Pistol Pandey’, and us, members of the ‘Pistol Pandey gang’,” said Pankaj Singh, a friend from Lucknow.

“He is a successful businessman and not the person the media is portraying him to be,” he said.

“Do you know how much tax he has given in the last financial year? Around Rs 1.5 crore,” he said. “There is not a single case, criminal or civil, against him in any police station or court of this country.

“Yes, he is fond of luxury cars and has a certain lifestyle. But what is wrong in that?” he added. “He earns a living and is free to spend his earnings however he wants.”

‘His own man’

According to Rinku Pandey, who claims to be a distant cousin, Pandey had never wanted to tap the family’s political legacy.

“He set up a solvent plant in Ambedkar Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) in 2000, and has since been looking after his family’s liquor business while also branching out to real estate and toll plaza operations,” he said.

“Despite his family’s presence in politics, Ashish never wanted to join politics and he has always been focused on his business,” he added. “He is such a gentle person. At his factory, if any of his employees commits a mistake, he simply asks them to not repeat it. He never raises his voice or rebukes anyone.

“He is being made out to be some kind of a criminal, which is completely wrong,” said Rinku.

Pandey had sought to paint a similar picture of himself in a video he released Thursday, four days into the police chase for him. He subsequently surrendered at Delhi’s Patiala House Courts, and was sent to a day’s custody.

Before the spat caught on camera, with a man and a woman, Pandey is said to have also misbehaved with women at a ladies’ washroom at the hotel. Pandey, however, has described the account as one-sided.

‘My name is Ashish Pandey’

“Hello friends, my name is Ashish Pandey, son of Sri Rakesh Pandey,” he said in the video. “You might recognise me from the media trial that has been going on in the entire country.

“I am being projected as a terrorist and I am wanted, and police of the entire country is looking for me. A lookout circular has been issued for me,” he added.

“I am not denying that this incident took place that night… But that video is being shown by just one section and in their support,” he said.

“If what happened that night is investigated, CCTV footage is shown, it is shown who was in the ladies’ toilet and who threatened whom after leaving from there… Yes, all these things need to be looked into.”

“I accept that after coming out, I had taken my licensed weapon from the car,” he added, “Neither did I show the weapon to him, nor did I train the weapon on him. The weapon was always behind my legs on the side all the time.”

“You are telling me that I was indecent to the woman, pointed the pistol and threatened her. I did not even address the woman, I did not speak to her and I did not even turn my attention towards her.

“She pushed me, she made indecent hand gestures at me, her friend said unsavoury things to me.”

Pandey also went on to express his faith in the Indian judiciary.

“I am a businessman and it is not a crime to be a politician’s son or a politician’s brother in this country,” he said.

“I have my own business and file heavy taxes. I have been doing that for 20 years. There is not a single report (police report) against me for even slapping someone and nor is there any civil case against me where I have a dispute with someone.

“I have a licensed weapon and I have that license for 20 years… I will surrender and put forth my side (of the story). I request all of you to get the CCTV footage,” he said.