West Tripura DM creates ruckus inside marriage hall, trashed priests and groom : Apologizes after video went viral

West Tripura District Magistrate (DM) Dr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav on Monday paid a surprise visit to two marriage halls;

Gulab Bagan and Manikya Court in Palace Compound, North Gate area — around 11 pm after receiving complaints from locals that they have been organising wedding ceremonies during curfew hours amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.

 Shailesh ordered to seal the two marriage halls and banned them from organizing any function for one year.

The DM has recommended the suspension of the officer in charge of West Agartala police station, along with a couple of other police officers, who were on duty at the location to ensure compliance of the curfew rules but were found not cooperating with the administration.

 However, Shailesh's actions caused a stir among the people, and he was trolled for abusing police, pushing out the bride, groom and the priests and being rude to some female guests at the event. Some urged the government to take action against him.

Tripura has imposed a night curfew between April 22 to April 30, in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) areas from 10 pm to 5 am in view of a steep rise in COVID-19 infections.

“All these people who are assembled here, they have violated the order under Section 144 of CrPC and would be prosecuted under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. They will all be arrested right now,” he told reporters.

As the video of the incident went viral and criticism spread, the DM offered an apology. On a local cable channel, he said, “I didn’t intend to hurt anybody’s sentiment but to pass a message to the reckless attitude of the public to contain COVID-19 spread”.