NRI groom's
families in jail, when they attacked on Banquet hall owner
for stealing their marriage Bag
NRI family lands in Punjab jail, hours after marriage
By Jaideep Sarin
Hoshiarpur (Punjab),
Oct 6, 2009: A family of NRIs from Britain and the US, including
a groom who rode an elephant for his wedding, his mother and his
sisters, have landed in prison here -- just hours after the ceremony.
At least nine members of the NRI family have already been arrested
by the Punjab Police and efforts are being made to nab others as
well, police officials said on Tuesday.
All of them are British and American passport holders.
The NRI family, which comes from London's Southall area and Leicester
city in Britain, and Connick and Woodland towns in California, US,
have been accused of attacking the owner of a popular marriage hall,
Green Fields, in this town Saturday evening.
The owner of the marriage hall and his son were injured in the
incident after a mob of 15-20 'baraatis' (groom's party) attacked
them inside their house. The attack was provoked by the theft of
a bag belonging to the wedding party from inside the marriage hall
complex.
The groom Gurpreet Singh, 27, his mother Sukhwinder Kaur, both
from Southall, and two sisters, Reema Bains and Seema Sanghera,
both from California, have been lodged in the Hoshiarpur jail after
a local court sent them to judicial remand on Monday.
Others arrested included relatives of the groom, Amarjit Singh
and Salwinder Singh Sohal from Leicester in Britain, Amarinder Singh
Sohal from Bremmen-Norway, and Inderjit Singh and Harjit Singh from
California.
The groom's father, Gurdev Singh, has also been booked but has
not yet been arrested.
The police have confiscated the passports of those NRIs named in
the case registered here. The family has been charged with attempt
to murder, criminal trespass, rioting, assault and robbery under
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the Arms Act
as the marriage hall owner accused them of firing weapons.
"We are investigating the matter. The accused were arrested
within hours of the incident from their village," an investigating
officer said. The NRIs hail from a village near Mahilpur town, 20
km from here, and had flown down specially for the wedding. ........NRIpress.com/IANS
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