YouTuber Gaurav Taneja has been granted bail after being arrested for organising his birthday party with wife Ritu Rathee Taneja at Sector 51, Noida Metro Station of the Aqua Line on Saturday.
Taneja is currently one of the most popular YouTubers in the country with millions of subscribers across his three YouTube channels— 'Flying Beast', 'Fit Muscle TV' and 'Rasbhari Ke Papa' where he makes fitness-related videos as well as his daily life vlogs and live streams.
He was arrested on Saturday after his followers gathered at Sector 51 metro station of the Aqua Line in Noida on Saturday to celebrate his birthday upon his request.
The YouTuber, whose friends had booked the metro coach under a scheme of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation that allows renting of coaches for private celebrations.
Taneja's wife Ritu, who has over 1.6 million followers on Instagram, told her fans that she will meet them at about meeting at 1.30 pm for a birthday celebration. An earlier Instagram story on Ritu's account also said: "We will be restricted by the maximum capacity of a Metro given by NMRC! Lekin sabse mileage zaroor!." However, hours later, another post on the Instagram story informed that celebrations were being cancelled "due to some personal issues."
According to police, after hundreds of people reached the spot, it created a stampede-like situation, following which he was arrested.
He was brought in to the station for questioning and later released on bail late in the night. Restrictions under CrPC section 144 were imposed in Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of UP in view of multiple festivals and other law and order considerations.
"The YouTuber was held under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by government officials) and 341 (wrongful restraint) after an FIR was lodged at the local Sector 49 police station," a senior police official said.
"He was arrested around 2 pm, after a large number of people gathered outside the Noida Sector 51 metro station, leading to traffic snarls on the road in front of it. He was granted bail later in the evening," the official said.
The invitation for Taneja's birthday was shared in an open invitation to fans and followers on social media. According to Noida Metro officials, the coach-for-hire scheme on the Aqua Line was aimed at non-fare box revenue for the government-run metro service.
Taneja was an Air Asia pilot and claimed that he was suspended by the airline for pointing out violations at the airline. In a video in 2020, he also pointed out the issues that he had flagged.
His wife Ritu Rathee Taneja is also a social media influencer and a pilot. They got married in 2015 and have two children. She has over 1.6 million followers on Instagram. His YouTube channel Flying Beast has over seven million subscribers. While Taneja has 3.3 million followers on Instagram.