Groom from Habiganj Cheated in Rangpur Wedding Trip as Bride Vanishes with Four Bhori of Gold

Brunei expatriate Foysal Ahmed came from Habiganj to Rangpur with a bus full of 42 wedding guests to get married. But before the wedding, the bride vanished with four bhori of gold ornaments. The people who had presented themselves as her relatives also slipped away. In the end, the groom's party had to return without any wedding.

The incident took place in Rangpur on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday night, groom Foysal Ahmed filed a case with Rangpur Metropolitan Kotwali police station on charges of fraud and theft. Sumi Akter (26), her husband Subhash Ahmed (35) and the bride Shyamala Khatun (19) were named as accused in the case.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police's Kotwali station officer-in-charge (OC) Wadud Ali confirmed the case. He said police have already begun an investigation, that it has progressed a long way, and that the accused are expected to be arrested soon.

Foysal Ahmed returned home from Brunei five months ago in order to get married. His home is in Machulia village in Habiganj district town. He was supposed to go abroad again after the wedding.

According to the case statement and the groom's party, Foysal's younger sister Tamanna Akter is married in Chattogram. She lived in a rented flat there with her husband and father-in-law. Sumi Akter alias Maya and her husband Subhash Ahmed lived in the same flat. They had introduced themselves as husband and wife with a village home in Kurigram. After living in that flat for about two years, they moved to Dhaka a year and a half ago. But Sumi stayed in touch with Tamanna by mobile phone.

Tamanna said that when she told Sumi about her elder brother Foysal's marriage, Sumi proposed marriage with her supposed younger sister Shyamala Khatun. Shyamala spoke several times over video calls with Foysal, Tamanna and other family members. After Shyamala was liked, Wednesday was fixed as the wedding day. The bride's side arranged the wedding at a community centre in Kamal Kachna in Rangpur city. Accordingly, 42 men and women, including the groom, came by bus from Habiganj to Rangpur on Wednesday morning.

Tamanna alleged that before the wedding, the groom's side gave the bride four bhori of gold ornaments. Three women who introduced themselves as the bride's sisters showed interest in verifying their quality. The groom, his two sisters, brother-in-law and father, along with the three women and the bride, then went to a jewellery shop in the city. The quality of the ornaments was verified there. Once it was found to be right, the bride was taken to a beauty parlour in the city to be dressed up.

According to the complaint, at the beauty parlour the groom Foysal left his two sisters there and went elsewhere with his father and brother-in-law to do the remaining wedding shopping. At that time the bride was dressed in bridal attire wearing the gold ornaments. She was then put on a rickshaw. One woman posing as the bride's sister rode with her. The groom's two sisters and two more women posing as the bride's sisters rode in another auto-rickshaw. After that, the rickshaw carrying the bride could no longer be found.

The other auto-rickshaw stopped under a banyan tree near Bhatiayapara in Badarganj upazila, about 26 kilometres from Rangpur city. They got down there around 5pm on Wednesday. The auto-rickshaw was then released. Leaving the groom's two sisters waiting on the road, the two women posing as the bride's sisters tactfully left the place. After waiting a long time, the two sisters phoned the groom to inform him.

Tamanna alleged that the four bhori of gold ornaments given by the groom included a necklace, a chain, bangles and a ring. Besides these, the bride and her people vanished with seven thousand taka in cash and new wedding clothes including a sari.

Groom Foysal Ahmed said by phone on Friday night, 'My younger sister Tamanna arranged everything for my wedding. I and my family had trust in her. Tamanna trusted Sumi Akter, who lived in the flat next door. I never imagined I would fall victim to such a big fraud by trusting them.'

The wedding was arranged at a community centre in Kamal Kachna. The establishment's manager (operations) Rakibul Islam said a community centre must be booked a week in advance and the rent paid. But on Wednesday morning, keeping the bus full of people some distance away, three people identifying themselves as the bride's side came to them. They said 10 to 12 people including the groom were supposed to come to the girl's wedding, but 42-43 people had arrived. For this reason they wanted to rent the community centre. He said the centre was rented to them on humanitarian grounds. The rent was fixed at 42,000 taka. Another 40,000 taka or so was fixed for lunch. When money was asked for, the bride's side said they would withdraw it from a bank. The bride's side did not pay for these arrangements either, and the meal never took place.