Youth who married Chirnajeevi's daughter had kidnapping case

Hyderabad, Oct 18 (IANS) The man who eloped with Telugu film star Chiranjeevi's daughter and married her here Wednesday had allegedly kidnapped a minor girl in 2002, police said Thursday.

Sirish Bharadwaj married Chiranjeevi's younger daughter Srija at the Arya Samaj ashram here in a dramatic fashion.

Police said a case had been registered against him at the Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police station on a complaint of the girl's father Arun Kumar.

Venkatratnam, inspector of the S.R. Nagar police station, said the youth was arrested on March 30, 2002 and was in jail for a week. He was subsequently released on bail.

Admitting that a case was registered against his son, Bharadwaj's father Venkatramna Murthy claimed that the two had eloped.

Police were trying to find out if Bharadwaj, an engineering student and a relative of Congress legislator P. Janardhan Reddy, had any more cases against him. He was reportedly booked in a fake passport case.

The criminal past of the youth was being dug out even as the whereabouts of the newly wed couple were unknown. Police sources said a case could be registered against Bharadwaj if the family of the actor files a complaint.

Murthy, a lawyer and resident of Begumpet area in the city, reached a Telugu television channel's office Thursday to say that he feared threats from the fans of Chiranjeevi and sought protection for himself and other family members.

'I don't know his whereabouts. He neither came to my house after the marriage nor contacted me over phone,' said Murthy. He claimed that he tried to dissuade his son from going ahead with the marriage due to the incompatibility between the two families.

'Chiranjeevi is a big star and industrialist whereas we are no body. Hence I told him not to go ahead with the marriage,' Murthy said.

Meanwhile, Chiranjeevi's family continued to be in shock. The superstar's brother-in-law and film producer Allu Aravind said he was shocked by the development as he gave full freedom to his children and treated them as his friends.

Srija, who is pursuing a course in chartered accountancy, had left the house Wednesday on the pretext of meeting a friend and within an hour the family received the news of her marriage.

She tied the knot with Bharadwaj in the presence of their select friends. Fearing a threat from her father, she also sought help from police and the media.

Declaring that she was in love with Bharadwaj for four years, Srija said the marriage was legally valid as she was 19 and her husband 22. The actor's daughter said their families were against the inter-caste marriage.

The development also angered the fans of the 52-year-old actor, who has a huge fan following in the state. Security was tightened around his residence in the upscale Jubliee Hills as fans tried to gather there in large numbers.