Stooping low: Marriage ceremony of Vyapam whistleblower’s sister disrupted

Special Correspondent

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL/GWALIOR: In what could be termed as a very distasteful incident, the marriage ceremony of Vyapam whistleblower Ashish Chaturvedi’s sister was disrupted for several hours in Gwalior on Tuesday.

The disruption came when the owner of the marriage garden where the ceremony is to be solemnized refused to allow the function at the last hour on Tuesday morning, despite prior booking. 

ASHISH WAS ATTACKED JUST TWO DAYS AGO

Two days ago, Chaturvedi was allegedly attacked by two Vyapam accused – Vishal Yadav and Deepak Yadav in presence of police guard.

“If I had known it was marriage in your family (Ashish’s father booked the venue), I would have not offered the venue at all. After all even a bomb blast can happen when it is about you,” the owner of Kusumakar Rangmanch (marriage hall) reportedly told Chaturvedi while denying the family access to the venue on Tuesday morning.

The marriage hall owner Mewaram Chhaparia is reportedly linked to the ruling BJP. The role of local police in the incident was also under cloud, said sources. For hours, the family was in shock and totally at loss how to deal with the situation.

It was only after the issue reached Bhopal and apparently after intervention of the Chief Minister’s office that the function hall owner relented and the venue was handed over to the Chaturvedi family at around 1.00 pm as against 10.00 am as decided earlier.

The director general of police Rishi Kumar Shukla reportedly directed the Gwalior inspector general of police (IG) Anil Kumar to ensure that the marriage ceremony went off without any hitch. Police presence was then ensured at the venue.

The son of the owner Sonu Chhaparia however told media persons that the Chaturvedi family was given the hall late because of delay in the marriage ceremony earlier day. He denied that the family had been refused access.

CONSTANTLY ON THE TARGET

Ashish Chaturvedi is one of the key complainants in many Vyapam related cases. He has been offered a police guard, but is forced to carry the policeman on his own bicycle. Also Chaturvedi has alleged that he was being harassed as cameras follow him everywhere.

Policemen wielding cameras scared the marriage guests and relative away during the past two days, Chaturvedi has claimed. The whistleblower, who was earlier an RSS worker, has constantly been targeted ever since he made damning revelations about the scam.

Activist and another Vyapam whistleblower Anand Rai took to Twitter to express outrage over the disruption of the marriage ceremony and said it was a real cheap act.