Bhopal diary

Dubey case: Who in Ujjain will get Rs 5L? 
Days after gangster Vikas Dubey was gunned down by the UP Police in an alleged encounter in Kanpur district, the question in MP’s Ujjain doing around is who will get the Rs 5 lakh reward put up by the cops for information on the don. Dubey was arrested from famous Mahakal Temple premises in Ujjain on July 9. Since then, two prime claimants have emerged for the reward, including the flower seller outside the temple, who first spotted Dubey and informed a security guard, who nabbed the gangster. A Vyapam scam whistleblower said both should get Rs 2.5 lakh each. 

This ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ prays for Big B’s recovery
He is known as the Amitabh Bachchan of Jabalpur city and treats the ‘superstar of the millennium’ as his elder brother. Meet cycle rickshaw- puller Manoj Kumar ‘Bachchan’, who is nowadays getting all attentions his for emotional prayers for Big B’s recovery from Covid-19. Ask him about the superstar, and he’ll start weeping. Manoj’s die-hard devotion for Big B is all-pervasive on his cycle rickshaw, which bears only Bachchan’s pictures and his film dialogues. Manoj remembers when the actor had sustained critical injuries in the stomach during the shooting of film Coolie, he had offered 51 coconuts out of his meagre income. When the superstar’s mother died, he had got his head tonsured.

18 tested Covid +ve after attending wedding  
As many as 18 people, who attended a wedding at a heritage hotel in Bhopal on June 28, have tested positive for the coronavirus. First, one of the attendees was detected to be positive, after which 17 more people tested positive for the infection. They are residents of city’s posh Arera Colony and Bagsewania localities. They are reportedly in stable condition. None from the bride’s family has been found Covid-19 positive. The wedding was solemnised four days after the marriage gathering norms were relaxed.

Man marries bride, friend at same mandap
In an eerie development, a man married two women at the same marriage mandap with all requisite rituals at a village in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. The tribal man Sandeep Uike married the two women, including his long-time girlfriend from adjoining Hoshangabad district and the girl his family wanted him to marry. Recently, a local tribal panchayat had heard all three families and subsequently, it was decided that if both the women are ready to live together with Uike, they should be married to him, after which the July 8 wedding happened. Local tehsildar Monika Vishwakarma said the matter will be probed.

Anuraag Singh
Our correspondent in Madhya Pradesh singhanuraag.jaurno@gmail.com