Investigation: Who were the men in the car with lathis as Delhi police stood by?

On the evening of October 11, a white Maruti Suzuki Fronx, registration UP14-HA-4945, sat near Gate 7 of the metro station in Connaught Place for nearly two hours. Four men were inside. Newslaundry reporters could see lathis in the vehicle.

The reporters alerted police personnel on the spot and asked them, repeatedly, to check the car. They did not. Instead, the police formed a cordon and appeared to help it leave.

The Delhi Police has since claimed the vehicle was checked, the “individual’s profile was fully vetted”, and they have “zero criminal record”. But a video reviewed by Newslaundry shows one of the car’s occupants pulling wooden sticks out of the same vehicle the same day. 

In fact, over the past two days, Newslaundry examined videos, photographs and social media posts to understand if the men around the car were part of a circle that openly called for force against protesters, and engaged in violence too.  

The owner of the car

The car is registered to Gaurav Pandey, who runs Pandey Real Estate Agency with his younger brother, Jai Kishan Pandey. Their business card places the office at M-61, Middle Circle, Connaught Place, near FabIndia and Starbucks. When Newslaundry visited M-61 on Tuesday, it found a clothing store, not a real estate office. The store’s owner said the shop had operated from the address for decades and he did not know Pandey. 

However, this stretch is where pro-police slogans were raised before the protest, and where much of the intimidation on October 10 and 11 took place.