Kuresh Mohanty and D Sunita at BN Pur police station. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, July 19: It was a knotty issue of tying the knot. A youth and a girl were taken into custody by city police just before their marriage.

“We arrested Kuresh Mohanty, a resident of Mahendragada in Gajapati district and D. Sunita Patra, daughter of D. Arjun Patra of Kamapalli Badasahi of Berhampur from a marriage venue at Nehru Nagar here today,” said sub-divisional police officer Sarat Mohapatra.

Kuresh had allegedly kidnapped D. Sunita, a minor. “We have registered a case in B.N. Pur police station after the girl’s father, D. Arjun Patra, lodged a FIR. She was missing since March 17,” he said.

“When we came to know that Kuresh and Sunita are in Nehru Nagar and social worker Pramila Tripathy is organising their marriage clandestinely, we swung into action and arrested both of them,” said the SDPO.

Jayalaxmi, mother of the girl, had also filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court stating that her daughter’s life is in danger. The high court ordered the police to produce the girl in person, said Mohapatra. However, social activist Pramila Tripathy, who organised the marriage today, said that she was ignorant about the habeas corpus petition filed in the high court.

“Both Kuresh and Sunita are in love with each other. Sunita is also four months’ pregnant. I think both of them should get married,” she said.

Kuresh said that he was in love with Sunita since 2008. “We love each other,” he said. B.N. Pur police, however, forwarded Pramila Tripathy in a micro-finance case and Kuresh in a kidnapping case to the SDJM court which rejected their bail petitions and remanded them in jail custody. The court ordered to handover Sunita to her mother.