A woman constable went missing a day before her marriage in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The father accused the history-sheeter of kidnapping. On meeting, the constable told that she had gone of her own free will, after which the groom called off the marriage.
The marriage of 25 year old constable Sandhya Bhardwaj was fixed with fellow constable Atul Sharma. But she eloped on Saturday night, just a day before the wedding in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The wedding cards had been distributed, preparations were complete and both the families were ready for the celebration.
Bhardwaj, a resident of Akbarpur Sadat village in Bahsuma area of Meerut, left her house without informing anyone.
His father Subhash Sharma contacted the police on Sunday. He alleged that his daughter has been kidnapped by 28-year-old Ankit Chauhan, a history-sheeter who has nine criminal cases registered against him, including robbery and murder. Bhardwaj had come home after taking 20 days leave from her posting at Cyber Police Station in Aligarh for her wedding.
“On February 5, Chauhan had threatened the groom over phone that he would kill him if he married my daughter. On Saturday night, he kidnapped my daughter,” Sharma alleged in his complaint.
An FIR was immediately registered against Chauhan under sections 87 (kidnapping) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. However, within a few hours the matter took a dramatic turn.
Police traced Bhardwaj from Buxar in Meerut within eight hours of the complaint. But when he was interrogated, he clearly denied the matter of kidnapping. Instead, she told authorities that she had left the house of her own free will.
Police revealed that Bhardwaj had known Chauhan for many years. Mawana circle officer (CO) Pankaj Lavania said, “She used to visit her aunt’s house in Dhikauli village, where she met Chauhan. Chauhan is also a resident of the same village.”
Police confirmed that Chauhan’s record included several cases of robbery and murder. In May last year, he was arrested after a police encounter in connection with a liquor shop robbery and was recently released on bail.
Meanwhile, the shocked groom calls off the wedding. SP (Rural) Abhijeet Kumar said that he will be produced in the court soon.