GUWAHATI: A woman in Assam was virtually rescued by her friends just when she was getting ready to tie the nuptial knot with a “fraudster” she had befriended and courted on Facebook.
The incident was reported from lower Assam’s Dhubri. The groom, Gajendra Muralidhar, and two of his accomplices have been arrested by the police for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating.
The relationship between Muralidhar and Shobha Basfore had bloomed on the social media platform. After about ten months of courtship, the marriage was fixed on Thursday. Shobha is a Grade IV employee at the office of Dhubri Deputy Commissioner (District Magistrate).
The wedding was to have been solemnised at the Jogmaya Temple in Dhubri town and the reception was to be held at the auditorium of Dhubri Sahitya Sabha. Moments before the marriage, Shobha’s friends became suspicious of the groom for some reasons and they asked him to produce his identity proof but he failed to do so. Soon, the police was called in and eventually, he was arrested along with his two friends based on an FIR lodged by the woman’s mother. A reason that gave rise to suspicion about them was that Muralidhar had not come with his parents despite being asked to do so by the woman’s family.
The police did not rule out the possibility of the accused persons being members of a human trafficking gang. A case was registered under Sections 120, 120 (b), 417, 418, 420, 366 and 511 of the Indian Penal Code.
“We have arrested them based on suspicion. They have not given their names and addresses correctly. All three of them are frequently changing their statements. Sometimes he (Muralidhar) says his father is alive and then he says the person is dead. He is also contradicting himself as regards his place of work. Sometimes, he says he is employed in Rajasthan and then, he says he works in Madhya Pradesh. We are in touch with the local police. Once, they get back to us, we will know more about the accused persons,” Dhubri Superintendent of Police, Longnit Terang, told TNIE.