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Woman’s ‘kidnapping’ turns out to be elopement, man held
A man was arrested for kidnapping a woman who later claimed she married him willingly. Villagers protested, blocking a highway demanding action.
A man has been arrested for kidnapping a 20-year-old woman returning home from shopping with her younger sister in the Manda area of the district on Saturday, said police.
The woman was allegedly pushed into a car by unidentified men on the Prayagraj–Mirzapur highway and taken away, police said. During the investigation, she was traced to Prayagraj Junction four hours later and recovered safely.
A man found with her was also detained.
She was produced in court on Saturday to record her statement before a magistrate. During interrogation, she told police that she had gone willingly and had married him in a temple. She was sent to Nari Niketan, while the man remained in custody.
Meanwhile, angered by the abduction, hundreds of villagers blocked the Prayagraj‑Mirzapur highway near Chauktha Lakhan village. Police from Meja, Manda and Dighiya outpost reached the scene and cleared the road, but the villagers regrouped and blocked it again half an hour later, demanding immediate action.
The blockade ended only after ACP (Meja) Sant Prasad Upadhyay, in the presence of MLA Sandeep Patel, assured them that the woman would be safely recovered and the accused arrested within eight hours.
The protest caused a long traffic jam on the busy route.
A case has been registered against 115 people.
According to the information, a farmer from Chauktha Lakhan village under the Dighiya police outpost filed a complaint that his 20-year-old daughter and her younger sister were returning home around 11 am on Friday after shopping in Sonai village. As they reached the highway, a car approached from the Prayagraj side. The men inside allegedly pushed the younger sister aside, gagged the elder sister and fled toward Mirzapur. Locals gathered at the spot but could not identify or stop the vehicle.
Officers said the case appeared linked to a love affair, though a kidnapping case was registered on the initial complaint. Late Friday night, police also booked a dozen named persons and around 100 unidentified people for the road blockade.
Meanwhile, social worker Baba Tiwari, named in the FIR, approached the DM and the DCP (Trans Yamuna) during Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas, claiming he had been falsely implicated. He said he had merely stopped due to the traffic jam and had no role in the protest. The DCP assured him that if video evidence did not show his involvement, his name would be removed and no innocent person would be penalised.
