Ludhiana Rural DSP Narinder Pal Singh Ruby said, “We had received several complaints from people who had been duped by these agents in lieu of marriage alliances abroad or on work visas. We had deputed decoys to carry out investigations and when sufficient proof was gathered, an FIR was lodged today against the accused.”

 Those booked include Savinder Singh Grewal (Grewal Marriage Bureau), Ujjagar Singh Andloo (UK Marriage Bureau), Bharpoor Singh (Eknoor Marriage Bureau), Paramjeet Singh (Gandhi Gift House), Rajinder Singh Jassal, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Gurmail Singh (Dashmesh Marriage Bureau), Kulwinder Kaur, who ran a private marriage bureau from her house, Jagroop Singh Grewal, Gurmail Singh, Kulwinder Singh Kinda, all residents of Kalsian village. The owners of Sangam Marriage Bureau and Billa Travel Agency have also been arrested.  

 Lok Bhalai Party President Avtar Singh Mullanpuri, who is one of the prime complainants in this case, said, “We had filed our complaint with the police in August 2007. We had definite reports and cases with us where these people had taken money from public promising them good marriage alliances in foreign lands or jobs. The truth was that these marriage bureaus never had any marriage alliances in hand. All they were doing was sending people abroad illegally.”

Confirming the same, SSP Bhullar said, “During our investigations, we found that the accused would float a mobile number and advertise it locally. People would call then call up for marriage alliances and by taking Rs 4,000 these marriage bureaus would register a case. However, the alliances never came through and we found that by charging small fees some of these marriage owners had collected a lot of money.These marriage bureaus are not registered and actually have no alliances to offer.”