PTC Web Desk: A wedding ceremony in Punjab’s Sandhwan village, Faridkot, took an unexpected turn on Wednesday evening when police personnel in plain clothes allegedly took the bride’s father away during the Anand Karaj ceremony, leading to a tense confrontation between the family and the police.

Sandhwan is the native village of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan.

According to the family, the man, identified as Garib Singh alias Raju, was taken away in a vehicle bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration number. The police said he was wanted in connection with a series of theft cases involving electricity transformers and water-pump motors from farmers’ fields in Gidderbaha area of Muktsar district.

Bride’s father taken away during wedding ceremony

The police action reportedly took place while the wedding rituals were underway. Family members and relatives objected to the detention and tried to prevent the police from taking Garib Singh away.

The situation soon turned into a scuffle. A man was reportedly seen lying in front of the police vehicle in an attempt to stop it. According to reports, he was dragged away as the vehicle left the spot with the accused.

The confrontation escalated further when some family members allegedly caught hold of a policeman and refused to let him leave until Garib Singh was released. During the incident, a policeman was seen displaying a pistol.

The incident created chaos at the wedding as relatives and police personnel confronted each other.

Family claims man was being falsely implicated

Garib Singh’s family disputed the allegations against him. His son, the bride’s brother, reportedly claimed that his father had left such activities behind and was being wrongly implicated by the police. He acknowledged that his father’s name had earlier figured in a theft-related case but maintained that he was no longer involved in such incidents.

The family also questioned the timing of the police action, as the arrest took place during an important wedding ceremony.

Gidderbaha SHO Parvinder Singh, however, gave a different account. According to the SHO, an FIR had been registered against Garib Singh in a case involving the alleged theft of around 150 electricity transformers and motors from agricultural fields in the Gidderbaha region.

The police suspect the thefts were carried out by a gang. The SHO said five alleged members of the gang had already been arrested and that Garib Singh was also wanted in connection with the investigation.

The police described him as a habitual offender allegedly involved in several cases of water-pump motor thefts targeting farmers.

The SHO said police teams had earlier attempted to arrest the accused at his residence but were unsuccessful.

According to the police version, Garib Singh allegedly managed to evade arrest on several occasions. After receiving information that he had travelled to Sandhwan to attend the wedding, police teams, including personnel in plain clothes and uniform, reached the village to arrest him.

The police said relatives resisted the arrest, resulting in a confrontation in which some policemen reportedly sustained injuries.

A separate case has been registered at Sadar Kotkapura police station in connection with the confrontation between the police and the family members.

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- PTC NEWS

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