Amethi (UP):

A wedding in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi has taken a turn for the bizarre after members of the bride’s family took the groom hostage and demanded that his family reimburse the costs of the preparations. The bride’s family has called off the wedding, alleging that the groom is in a relationship with another woman.

The hostage situation follows dramatic developments ahead of the wedding function last night. The groom, Sohanlal Yadav from Ayodhya, went missing days before the wedding. Unable to reach him, his family filed a missing complaint. Unaware of this situation, the bride’s family made grand preparations for the wedding function. On the night of the wedding, guests started coming in, but the groom was MIA.

Later, the bride’s family was called to the local police station, where they learned of the situation. Following police intervention, the groom eventually agreed to go through with the wedding and reached the bride’s home with the wedding procession around 2.30 am. By then, the bride’s family had wised up to his affair. They treated the groom to a meal but told him that the wedding was off. But he was also told that he could leave only after his family compensated the bride’s family for the wedding costs. Sohanlal remains a hostage at the bride’s home — quite the reverse of the situation he would be in if everything went as planned.

Seated in a decorated car, Sohanlal said, “There was no problem. We just came late. They are now saying they don’t want the wedding and demanding compensation for their expenses. They are not letting me leave.” He insisted that he was never missing. “I had not disappeared. I was in Lucknow. My phone had stopped working. When I somehow switched it back on, the police called me and I reached the police station. I wanted to marry, but they are not ready,” he claimed.

The bride’s father Lal Bahadur Yadav said the wedding was fixed 10 months back. “Three days after the Tilak ceremony, he (groom) said no to the wedding. When we asked why, he said he wanted a car. We agreed to that too. Then he said he did not want the car, but cash instead. We agreed again. We asked him if there was any other problem, and he said no. So we started the preparations.” 

On the night of the wedding, guests started leaving but the groom had still not arrived, the bride’s father said. “We kept calling without success. My brother-in-law is from their area. He asked me to come to the police station. When we reached there, we found the groom.”

The groom agreed to the wedding only because cops had warned him that he could face a dowry case. “Under pressure, he agreed to the wedding. When he came here, the villagers wanted to beat him up. I stopped them, we fed him. He ran away three days before the wedding, he is in a relationship with another woman. He should have told us beforehand, then we would not have made such preparations. We want him to pay us for the expenses and then he can leave. We don’t want this wedding. He betrayed before the wedding, what can we expect later?”

Police have tried to reason with the bride’s family, but they have refused to budge.

Inputs by Arun Gupta

Gurugram:

A short cab ride turned into a nightmare for a Gurugram woman and her son after the cab driver held them at gunpoint and forced her to transfer Rs 55,000 into his account. The cab driver then made the mother and son exit the vehicle and sped away.

The driver, associated with cab aggregator BluSmart, has been arrested. The aggregator has said it was “disturbed” by the incident, apologised to the passenger and her family and assured that it would strengthen safety protocols further.

The incident occurred Friday when the woman and her son took a BluSmart cab from Airia Mall in Gurgaon to her home in Sector 86. Near Sector 83, the driver stopped the cab and pointed a gun at her. He then forced her to transfer Rs 55,000 to his account through a UPI app. He kept her bag too, asked them to get out of the car and drove away.

Police yesterday said that they had arrested the cab driver. Sonu Singh is from Uttar Pradesh and lived as a tenant in Gurugram. He has been remanded in police custody for a day, “The recovery (of money) will be made after interrogating the accused,” a police officer said.

BluSmart has said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the incident.

“The safety and security of our riders is our utmost priority. We have stringent onboarding processes, including mandatory background checks, face-to-face interviews, and driving tests. Our technology platform incorporates facial recognition to verify driver identities and a dedicated safety helpline for riders. Despite these measures, this unfortunate incident highlights the need for constant vigilance and improvement,” it has said.

pic.twitter.com/Jr0SZwvXTH

— BluSmart (@BluSmartIndia) December 3, 2024

The cab aggregator said BluSmart’s “exhaustive documentation” about the driver and “swift actions” of the team had helped police arrest him within 24 hours.

“We are taking immediate steps to further strengthen our safety protocols, including additional training for our driver-partners and enhanced technology solutions. We apologize to the affected family and are committed to providing them with all necessary support. We will continue to work tirelessly to rebuild trust and ensure that every BluSmart ride is a safe and comfortable experience,” the statement added.

Deeply disturbed by the recent incident involving a @BluSmartIndia rider & child being robbed. After 5+ years of building a safe mobility solution, this feels personal.

Safety is our foundation: robust background checks, facial recognition, safety helplines, and more.…

— Anmol Singh Jaggi (@AnmolJaggi) December 3, 2024

BluSmart co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi said “this feels personal” after building a safe mobility solution over five years. “Safety is our foundation: robust background checks, facial recognition, safety helplines, and more. BluSmart’s exhaustive documentation process, coupled with swift action from our QRT team, ensured the accused was caught in less than 24 hours of the incident being reported.

“Immediate steps: enhanced driver training & strengthened safety protocols. Your safety is our priority. Always,” he said in a post on X.

Hyderabad:

The phone tapping case in Telangana took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the police booking former minister T. Harish Rao and others.

A case against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and others was registered at Panjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad on a complaint by G. Chakradhar Goud, a real estate businessman.

The complainant, who is also the founder of Farmers First Foundation, alleged harassment, threats, and unlawful phone surveillance.

Panjagutta Police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 120(B) (Criminal conspiracy), 386 (Extortion), 409 (Criminal breach of trust), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.

Goud stated in his complaint that Harish Rao developed a grudge against him due to his charitable activities, including financial support to families of farmers who had committed suicide.

The complainant alleged threats, fabricated cases, and unauthorised surveillance of his phone by Harish Rao and associates.

A key leader of the BRS, Harish Rao is the nephew of BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Goud alleged that he was implicated in multiple fabricated cases including a rape case. He stated that he received threatening messages and was warned to stop his charitable and political activities.

The phone-tapping allegations under the previous BRS government came to light in March this year with the arrest of Deputy Superintendent of Police Praneeth Rao following a complaint from his superior, D. Ramesh, Additional SP with the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB).

Then chief of SIB, Prabhakar Rao had allegedly constituted a team within the SIB with his trusted aides including Praneeth Rao for surveillance of rival political leaders, their families and dissidents within the ruling party, businessmen, journalists and even judges.

The police have so far named six accused in the cases.

Praneeth Rao, Additional SPs Thirupathanna and Bhujanga Rao and former DCP P. Radha Kishan Rao are in judicial custody.

Prabhakar Rao and Shravan Kumar Rao, MD of a media outlet, are in the United States.

The police had last month questioned former MLAs Jaipal Yadav and Chirumarthi Lingaiah in the phone tapping case.

The police had summoned them based on call data of the accused arrested in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)