Man kidnapped by bride’s kin hours before wedding, police rescue him after seven-hour chase

A man from Rajasthan was allegedly abducted by his own clan just before his wedding because they opposed his relationship. He was rescued after a seven-hour chase by police, and five kidnappers have been arrested.

A 30-year-old man from Rajasthan, who was about to marry a woman of his own ‘gotra (clan)’, was allegedly abducted by her family just before their wedding on Thursday as they opposed their relationship. He was rescued by the Ghaziabad police, with the help of Rajasthan police, after a nearly seven-hour chase, senior officers said on Friday.

The five suspects in police custody. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The five who kidnapped the man have been arrested and were identified as the woman’s brother Shubham Danodiya, 26, and his accomplices, Rajendra Kumar, 22, Akash Mehriya, 21, Vijay Chand, 20, and Dilip Kumar, 20, police said.

According to police, the couple, Mahendra Kumar, 30, and Laxmi Danodiya, 24, from Sikar district fled their homes and reached Ghaziabad tehsil to perform a court marriage on Thursday.

Around 1pm, Kumar came out of the tehsil office on some work, while Danodiya waited inside. Five men allegedly kidnapped Kumar, said a senior police officer.

“On hearing the commotion outside, Danodiya immediately informed the police and told them that she suspected that the kidnappers could be her family members,” said assistant commissioner of police (ACP), City 2, Ravi Kumar Singh.

The woman lodged a kidnapping complaint at Sihani Gate police station and a police team immediately got on the task of rescuing the man.

Investigators said the couple were in a serious relationship and wanted to marry. They decided to get the registry marriage done in Ghaziabad as they learned that no police verification was required to perform a court marriage in Uttar Pradesh.

“After Kumar was kidnapped, our teams scanned the footage from the CCTV cameras around the tehsil and discovered that the man has been kidnapped in a hired car, that later went towards Duhai on Delhi-Meerut Road. We traced the car to Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) interchange in Duhai. There, the suspects bundled Kumar into their car, a Maruti Swift, and drove towards Haryana,” said Singh.

A surveillance team scanned the CCTV footage from the cameras on EPE and tracked all cars arriving from Rajasthan on Thursday. They zeroed in on the suspects car and identified it as a vehicle registered in Sikar district. Three teams were tasked to chase it in coordination with Haryana and Rajasthan police. “Around 8.30pm on Thursday, the car was finally found during a routine check under the jurisdiction of the Bagar police station in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan,” said a police officer attached to case investigation.

The suspects were nabbed with the help of the Rajasthan Police and Kumar was rescued. He was brought to Ghaziabad where he underwent a medical check-up, while Danodiya was taken to a government’s one-stop centre for women. She will be produced before a court, the Ghaziabad police said.