'Sakshi Mishra, Ajitesh weren't kidnapped, it was a Muslim couple,' confirms Allahabad Police; HC says marriage legitimate

Prayagraj: Refuting the claims of several news outlets, Prayagraj police clarified on Monday that reports claiming that the daughter of Bareilly BJP MLA Rajesh Misra, Sakshi, and her husband Ajitesh’s abduction was not true and the couple was safe and present inside the Allahabad High Court premises. Various media outlets on Monday morning ran a feed claiming that Ajitesh and Sakshi were assaulted and then abducted by unidentified men from gate number three of the Allahabad High Court. However, the police said that a few unidentified men in a black Scorpio abducted a couple from outside the court after which the rumours about Sakshi and Ajitesh being kidnapped started to appear in some TV channels. “We got the information of a heated argument between the lawyers of Sakshi and Ajitesh and the lawyer opposing them outside the courtroom. We have not yet found any evidence proving the claims of Ajitesh being assaulted by the lawyers in the court premises,” Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Atul Sharma said over the phone. Mistaken identity and the rumour mill As the 24x7 media present at the Allahabad High Court waited for something big to unfold given the sensitivity of the Sakshi-Ajitesh case , the news of a couple’s abduction from the same location took hardly any time to go viral. Clarifying on this matter, the Allahabad police did confirm the news of a newly married couple being abducted from the court premises, but the couple wasn’t Sakshi and Ajitesh. According to Sharma, “A couple was abducted and taken into a suspected black Scorpio from outside the Allahabad High Court’s gate number three at about 8: 30 am on Monday.” The suspected Scorpio was later stopped in Fatehpur district and senior police officials, including Sharma, were on their way to investigate the matter.

सोशल मीडिया पर अफवाह/भ्रामक खबर फैलाई जा रही है कि प्रयागराज में साक्षी,अजितेश का अपहरण कर लिया गया है, जो निराधार है| साक्षी, अजितेश कोर्ट कैंपस के अंदर पुलिस अभिरक्षा में पूरी तरह सुरक्षित हैं|

जिस प्रेमी युगल का अपहरण किया गया था वह भी इस समय फतेहपुर पुलिस की हिरासत में है| https://t.co/WEJNjrFXec

— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE PRAYAGRAJ (@prayagraj_pol) July 15, 2019

Fatehpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh said that on the information of Prayagraj police the suspect car was seized under the Kalyanpur police station jurisdiction and a newly married couple was rescued. [caption id=“attachment_6977221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Sakshi and Ajitesh. ANI[/caption] “After verification, we got to know that this Muslim couple went to the Allahabad High Court today (Monday) from where they were abducted by the father and the uncles of the girl. The couple, who hailed from Amroha district, was rescued by the police. Prayagraj police, along with the Amroha police, will look into the matter," Ramesh said. When asked about the alleged abduction of a couple from outside the court, Prayagraj’s SP (city) Brajesh Srivastava said, “Police have set up barricades and CCTV footage is being scanned. So far, the police have not received any complaints from anyone.” ‘Sakshi, Ajitesh marriage legitimate’ According to senior advocate Ramanand Pandey, “The couple had appeared in court number 49 of Justice Siddharth Verma and the court termed their marriage legitimate. The court has also ordered for heavy security for the couple for which they had pleaded in court.” Sakshi, daughter of BJP MLA Rajesh Mishra, fell in love and married Ajitesh who is a Dalit. The couple had earlier released a video pleading the MLA father to let them live and not send the goons behind them. The issue gained media traction. The couple has been on the run since 3 July as Sakshi’s father was opposed to this marriage. The couple had applied for security in the Allahabad High Court on 11 July for which they appeared today. The couple and Ajitesh’ father Harish Kumar have alleged that SSP Bareilly Muniraj G had refused to respond to their calls for protection and security. The author is a Lucknow-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters