Gaurav Taneja says police personnel wanted selfie with him at station: ‘Madam meri FIR ho gayi hai, ruk jao’

Gaurav Taneja was arrested by the Noida Police earlier this month for allegedly violating Section 144 of the CrPc after his birthday party at the Sector 51 Metro Station ‘caused chaos’. Fans of the YouTuber had allegedly blocked roads as they gathered to celebrate his birthday at a surprise party planned by his wife, Ritu Rathee Taneja. Now, Gaurav has spoken about being ‘clueless’ about his arrest after his ‘extremely traumatic birthday’. He also reflected on being asked for ‘selfies’, while he was being arrested. Read more: YouTuber Gaurav Taneja says getting arrested was a ‘traumatic experience’

Gaurav narrated the events before and after his arrest in a new interview. After reaching the Metro station for his surprise birthday party, he said, his wife and daughters were taken to a room by NMRC (Noida Metro Rail Corporation Ltd) officials as he was escorted by a team of police officials. Gaurav said he had no idea ‘he was being arrested’, when he sat in a police van as throughout the ride he was ‘chit-chatting and joking’ with police officials. He added that he ‘realised it’ only when he reached the police station. Gaurav also said that he was not allowed to call his wife, who was alone at the Metro station with their daughters.

“It was my 36th birthday, and I was at the police station, clueless about the offence I committed. I remember that day so clearly. There was a slow whirring fan at the police station; a police official was sitting in front of me, reading a newspaper. On the other side, there was a prisoner constantly looking at me. I was sitting in their CCTV room, thinking about my wife, daughters and all the fans who had come for us. A few minutes later, a policewoman came and said, ‘Sir, selfie click kar lo? Mere bachche aap ke fan hain, unko aap se baat bhi karni hai (Sir, may I click a selfie with you; my children are your fans and would like to speak with you)’. I said, ‘Madam meri FIR ho gayi hai, thoda ruk jao please (Madam, please wait, an FIR has been registered against me),” Gaurav told The Times of India.

Gaurav added that he requested officials multiple times with ‘folded hands’ not to share his pictures with media, but they did. The YouTuber said they could have at least blurred his face, as he was only an accused at the time. Gaurav added that he found this ‘unfair’.

Gaurav said once he got the phone, he wrote his first message to Ritu, who said in the same interview that she got to know about his arrest from social media. She said she was shocked as she could see various officials, but nobody had told her about Gaurav’s arrest. She also said it was a ‘difficult day’ for the family and praised Gaurav for showing ‘patience and strength’. The couple further said that when Gaurav came home that night, the family made sure to celebrate his birthday as their elder daughter kept asking, ‘Papa, cake kyun nahi kata (Why have you not cut your birthday cake)?’

Moreover, Gaurav said that the case hasn’t seen any progress since his arrest. As of now, the police filed an FIR against him, and will take time to investigate the matter, he said, and added that he was taking ‘all the legal remedies’ from his side.

Responding to Gaurav’s allegations that he was not told he was being arrested and people were clicking selfies with him, Ranvijay Singh, Additional DCP, GB Nagar told the Times of India, “We are not aware of anyone taking videos or photos inside the police station. What he needs to understand is that he was arrested because he had violated Section 144 of the CrPC. Why didn’t his team inform the police about this gathering?”

Earlier on Thursday, Gaurav had tweeted that he had filed a police complaint after receiving a threat call against his four-year-old daughter. Alongside a screenshot of the police complaint, he wrote, “Received a threat call against our four-year-old daughter. Police complaint registered. @DelhiPolice @HMOIndia (sic).”