Ghaziabad,February 26 :Four others have also been arrested in the case. The five were held from a house in Loni’s Ram Park area. The girl, who is from Guwahati in Assam, has been rescued.According to SP ( City) A. K. Vijeta, Raju Thakur, the main accused, was striking a deal with two persons — Babu and Alam — to sell off his sister.
The girl was supposed to be sold to Raj Pal and Dharm Pal, two farmers from Dadri and Jarcha in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar district.Acting on a tip- off, the police raided the house and arrested the five accused.
A police officer said Raju had come to Loni from Guwahati a few days ago. He was accompanied by his sister.
A rickshaw- puller in Guwahati, Raju had met someone from Loni to whom he had expressed his desire to see his sister married.The man then brought Raju to Loni and introduced him to the four men, who offered to buy his sister for Rs 50,000. The large amount was too much of a temptation for him and he decided to sell off his sister.
But while the police maintained only Raju and his sister had come to Loni, his wife had a different story to tell.
Raju’s wife Seema told the police that he had befriended a person named Sharif — who was from Loni — in Guwahati.
Sharif was also a rickshawpuller.
Raju reportedly told Sharif about his wish to see his sister married. The latter then informed him that he had a boy in mind. He asked Raju to travel to Loni and talk to the boy’s family.Sharif arranged for the tickets and brought Raju, Seema, his sister and their eight- yearold child to Loni.
Once in Loni, Sharif arranged for them to stay in the house of Babu, an acquaintance. But he disappeared soon after, leaving the family stranded.After waiting for 10 days, Raju lost all hopes of Sharif returning. Left without any money, he narrated his woes to Babu.
The landlord then said he had a boy in mind. But this prospective groom was physically challenged and Babu asked Raju whether he would consider such a man for his sister.Seeing no alternative, Raju agreed. Babu and his friend Alam then took Raju to the house where Raj and Dharm were waiting for them.
“ My husband was not selling his sister to anybody. He had only come to Loni to find a match for his sister. It was for this purpose that he went to that house with Babu. He is absolutely innocent,” Seema told the police.
She also alleged that she had been visiting the Loni police station for the last two days but no one was ready to listen to her.