Accused a real estate bizman with penchant for weapons

The video of former BSP MP Rakesh Pandey's son, Ashish, brandishing his gun at a five-star hotel in New Delhi was widely shared on social media on Tuesday. Hailing from Lucknow, Ashish looks after the family's real estate business.

Ashish's elder brother, Ritesh, has been allegedly involved in criminal activities and is famous for his connection with east Uttar Pradesh don Hari Shankar Tiwari. Ritesh is a sitting MLA from Jalalpur in Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, Ritesh is known as eastern UP's Ponty Chadha and has liquor vending businesses in almost all sub divisions.

Ashish's family did not want him to enter the criminal world. The family pushed him to a get a reputed government job. According to sources, Ashish was sent to a boarding school in Dehradun and stayed in Delhi for a while to prepare for civil services.

"He appeared for the UPSC exams thrice (between 2002-2004) but he failed to clear even the preliminary stage. Dejected with his failure to become a civil servant, Ashish went back to UP where the family decided to set him up in the real estate business," said a police official.

Ashish's apparent Facebook account featured several pictures of his and of guns and knives. It was deactivated soon after the controversy erupted on Tuesday.