Flying Beast arrest explained: Why was Gaurav Taneja arrested?

Flying Beast Gaurav Taneja, one of the most popular Youtubers of the country, was arrested in Noida on Saturday. He was released on bail hours after his arrest. Why was Gaurav Taneja arrested? Here's the sequence of events that led to Flying Beast's arrest. Gaurav Taneja, who runs the YouTube channel Flying Beast, was celebrating his birthday on Saturday. He had booked a metro coach for his birthday party. His wife Ritu Rathee Taneja, who is a YouTuber and a commercial pilot, told her 1.6 million followers on Instagram that she would meet them at 1.30 pm for the birthday celebration. Before that, a story on Instagram read, "We will be restricted by the maximum capacity of a Metro given by NMRC! Lekin sabse mileage zaroor!." Hours later, she wrote another on Instagram informing that the celebrations had been cancelled due to some personal issues. 

However, despite her last minute attempt, thousands of their followers turned up at the Noida Sector 51 metro station to meet the YouTube star and his family. Noida Sector 49 police rushed to the spot and handled the situation. Soon Taneja was arrested by the police. They said the YouTuber didn't inform police before allegedly organising the gathering. 

Gaurav Taneja later became the top trending news in the country. 

The Flying Beast has lakhs of followers on his three YouTube channels -- Flying Beast, Fit Muscle TV and Rasbhari Ke Papa. Taneja was also a commercial pilot but had resigned following a much-public spat with his employer AirAsia. He used to make videos related to his life as a pilot on his biggest channel, Flying Beast. But since his resignation, he has been posting lifestyle vlogs on the channel. Fit Muscle TV also has millions of followers. It caters to bodybuilders. Rasbhari Ke Papa features vlogs related to her daughter. 

A Civil Engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, Taneja is currently pursuing Law at the Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

Was Gaurav Taneja arrested?

The Flying Beast wasn't arrested for celebrating his birthday. Gaurav Taneja was booked for violating the section 144 of the CrPC, which is in force in Noida since June 19. He was also booked under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant). CrPC Section 144 prohibits assembly of four or more people. 

Nisha Wadhawan, officer on special duty, NMRC, told Hindustan Times that they had received a booking for a birthday celebration with 200 guests. She said they had informed Taneja's manager to inform the local police about the function. The police, however, said Taneja didn't seek permission.

On July 1, the Noida police had decided to extend the imposition of Section 144 in the district in view of the upcoming festivals and exams. They had said the order would remain in force from July 1 to August 31. 

"On July 1 is Jagannath Shibha Yatra, on July 10 Bakrid,... August 9 Muharram after which Independence Day Celebrations on August 15 are some of the events that may attract miscreants to disturb the peace and law and order situation in the district," a senior police official had said, adding violators would be prosecuted. 

With inputs from ANI