How police ensured happy ending for six couples ditched by organisers at Rajkot mass wedding

When the organisers remained untraceable even as the pandal was set up, around 9.30am, the parents of one of the brides decided to call the police. The officials informed Sajjansinh Parmar, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for Zone-1 in Rajkot, who arrived at the spot.

With the help of local residents and NGOs, the police solemnised the wedding of six of the couples. By the evening, a police team had also nabbed three of the organisers.

Police said the organisers had taken Rs 30,000 from each couple on the pretext of holding a “Sarva Gnati Samuh Lagna” (mass wedding).

When DCP Parmar reached the site, almost all the attendees had left the venue except for three couples and their families. But when they learnt that the police had stepped in, three other couples returned to the venue.

On what drove his decision, DCP Parmar told The Indian Express, “It is the responsibility of the police to help the people when there is a problem. Thus, we decided to get the weddings of the couples solemnised under the aegis of the police.”

Meanwhile, on the instructions of the DCP, an FIR was filed at Pradyuman Nagar police station against six of the organisers, including main accused Chandresh Chhatrola. The others were Deepak Hirani, Dilip Gohil, Manish Vitthalpara, Dilip Varsanda and Hardik Shishangiya. They were booked for cheating, fraud, and criminal conspiracy.

Hirani, Gohel, and Vitthalpara were later arrested.

ACP Radhika Bharai told The Indian Express: “These people had taken Rs 15,000 per person. They had also taken various amounts of money, such as Rs 15 lakh from one donor and Rs 6 lakh from another, from people. They had also received jewellery and gold from the donors. The full amount of the money collected by Chhatrola is under investigation. He is absconding and we have deployed teams to apprehend and arrest him. He had organised several such group weddings in the past and in 2023, a similar situation had arisen. We are also inquiring into that incident.”

She further said, “Several men and women hoping to get married at the ceremony told us that their parents had to take loans to purchase their wedding dresses and jewellery. Also, many of the potential brides and grooms were orphans and their weddings were being funded by relatives, which made them feel worse when such a situation arose on their big day.”