Shaadi at gunpoint: Cops save Bhojpuri actress

Varanasi: A hotel in Robertsganj witnessed high drama for an hour and a half on Saturday after a young man barged into the room of a Bhojpuri actress with a pistol and tried to intimidate her into marrying him.
One person sustained a bullet wound and a senior police officer narrowly escaped being shot at before the accused, Pankaj Yadav (25) of Jaunpur, was overpowered and arrested.
According to local sources, a 70-member film crew from Mumbai is in the state to shoot for director Ritesh Thakur’s Dulari Bitiya, starring actress Ritu Singh, a Gorakhpur native currently based in Bollywood. The actress and some members of the crew had put up in the hotel at Robertsganj in neighbouring Sonbhadra district.
Around 11am, an armed Pankaj managed to make his way into the room of the actress undetected. As he asked her to marry him at gunpoint, her terrified screams brought a local youth, identified as Ashok, to her rescue. Pankaj panicked and opened fire. A bullet hit Ashok in the waist and he scrambled out of the room. The gunshot brought hotel staff and other crew members rushing to Ritu’s room. Ashok was sent to hospital even as Pankaj held the actress hostage. Police were informed, sources said.
Sonbhadra SP Salmantaj Jafertaj Patil arrived with his team, but chose to mediate the situation alone. He went inside the room and reasoned with Pankaj, urging him to surrender the firearm. “But, the youth continued pointing the pistol, once at me and then at the actress. He was adamant about marrying her,” the SP said.
After several minutes of counselling, Pankaj finally put the pistol on the bed. “As a precautionary measure, I pulled the bedsheet to move the pistol away from his reach. Unfortunately, the gun fell on the floor,” Patil said. Pankaj realised he was being played. He quickly picked up the pistol and fired at the SP. “I ducked in time and the bullet whizzed past my right ear,” the SP said.
The firing brought in other policemen who were stationed outside the room. They overpowered the youth and took him into custody around 12.30pm. “The accused has been stalking the actress for long. She had lodged an FIR against him in Mumbai too. Her family members have been informed. We are investigating the case,” the senior officer added.