No Shame, No Regret: Abuser Tyagi’s Supporters Demand His Release

NOIDA | Updated: 21 August, 2022 11:10 pm IST

Tyagi panchayat was held at Maharshi Ramleela ground in Noida on Sunday (TNI Pic By Tonmoy Thakur)

It was a show of strength by the supporters of abuser Shrikant Tyagi at the Maharishi Ramleea ground in Noida on Sunday. Thousands who gathered there demanded the immediate release of a man who was arrested earlier this month under the stringent Gangster Act.

Tyagi, who was never shy of flaunting his apparent proximity with political leaders, was seen abusing a woman resident of Grand Omaxe Society in Noida Sector 93 in a viral video. Facing the heat, Tyagi dodged police for three days before being nabbed in Meerut.

Some of Tyagi’s supporters had earlier entered the society and tried to threaten the members, before being taken away by the Noida police. On Sunday, they tried to show their might with ‘panchayat’, demanding the release of Tyagi.

Tyagi’s wife, Anu, was also present at the panchayat on Sunday. While she thanked the community members for their support, she also alleged that her husband is a victim of a conspiracy hatched at the behest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Mahesh Sharma.

Her appeal was enough to stoke emotions of the frenzied crowd at the panchayat. “If she (the woman harassed by Shrikant Tyagi) was a woman, Anu Tyagi too is a woman. Anu is being harassed by the police as well as by the administration,” one of the supporters said.

Sunday’s meeting could become a problem for the Uttar Pradesh government as the Tyagi-Bhumihar community had supported the ruling BJP. However, some members of the community are now looking to arm-twist the government.

“Almost 99 per cent of Tyagi-Bhumihar samaj had voted for the BJP in the elections. But if the injustice continues, then we will make them pay for it,” Ashu Tyagi, a social activist, threatened, as echoes of Shrikant Tyagi being a victim of conspiracy and booked under fabricated charges blared through the speakers.

“People see the way politicians want to divide the Bhumihar-Brahmin-Tyagi samaj. We have come together in solidarity with Shrikant Tyagi. We will follow the path of social justice,” Jaykant Kumar Vats, member of Antarashtriya Hindu Sena, said.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Mangey Ram Tyagi added a political twist by stating that a Mahapanchayat will be held at the Maharshi Ramleela ground every year as a tribute to the Tyagi Samaj.