The Gautam Budh Nagar police arrested three security guards of a shopping mall in Sector 32 on Monday for allegedly assaulting a man after a dispute over security frisking, police said. The arrest was made after a video of the incident was shared on Twitter, officials associated with the matter said.
Shakti Avasthy, the additional deputy commissioner of Police (Noida), said that the police took cognisance of the video depicting the security guards manhandling the man on social media and launched an investigation into the matter.
“Investigations revealed that the scuffle broke out on Monday morning after an argument over carrying a matchbox inside the mall. The security guard found a matchbox during the security check and objected to the man carrying it inside the mall, leading to an argument. The man entered the mall after the disagreement,” said ADCP Avasthy.
According to Avasthy, when the man left the mall later, he threw the security guard’s register book and left. The security guard followed him outside along with two other guards and began beating the man, he said.
“The guards beat him outside the mall, and other security guards joined in, attempting to break up the fight. The incident was recorded on video and widely shared on social media. We reviewed the CCTV footage and have arrested three guards,” said Avasthy.
The police identified the three suspects as Ajeet Kumar Pandey,36, Priyanshu Singh,22, and Manoj Kumar,24, all residents of Noida.
“Taking note of the video, we arrested the three under section 151 (arrest to prevent cognizable offence without magisterial order) of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure). The investigation is ongoing,” added the ADCP.