GUWAHATI: Celebrating his wife’s birthday on a bridge over the Brahmaputra in Guwahati proved costly for an Assam businessman.
The Bharalumukh Police Station in the city arrested the man, Gautam Baruah, along with 13 others who took part in the birthday celebration two days ago. Four vehicles, a Defender, a Mercedes, a Scorpio and a Honda City, were seized.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Jayanta Sarathi Bora said the police had no knowledge about the birthday celebration until coming across a social media video.
“We learnt about the birthday celebration after a video of it was circulated on social media on Monday. While verifying it, we found a vehicle, identified its owner (Baruah) and called him,” Bora said.
“We learnt that he celebrated the 42nd birthday of his wife on the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu on the intervening night of June 21 and 22,” the DCP added.
A case was registered under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Sections 285 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 270 (public nuisance) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others).
The police did not accept Baruah’s claim that the celebration lasted only five minutes.
“We all must have civic sense. Celebrating a birthday on a road is unacceptable,” the DCP said. The police were investigating the case.
A controversy erupted after the video surfaced on social media, showing a red carpet laid out on the bridge during the celebration.
Citizens criticised the event over road safety concerns, violation of traffic rules and misuse of public infrastructure for a private function.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu in February. Built at a cost of around Rs 3,030 crore, the 6-lane extradosed Prestressed Concrete bridge connects Guwahati with North Guwahati and is the first extradosed bridge in the Northeast.