‘Hostage drama’ in Ahmedabad

It was a scene straight out of a Hindi film, what with guns, hostages, police vans and cops with teargas shells, among others, all being pulled into action over an extensive hostage drama.

Not only did the incident shock the city police, it also created widespread panic in the Sola area when, for almost four hours, a 23-year old man held three women hostage to avenge a false case filed against him.

Dharmendra Gupta (23), a job seeker in the IT sector, barged into the house of the in-laws of his former teacher Sheetal Chavla, who allegedly filed a false case against Gupta. Gupta's intention behind the hostage drama was to attract the attention of the media, so as to prove himself innocent.

Speaking to the media, Gupta said that he had been falsely trapped by Chavla, who was a lecturer in Indore. She had accused him of allegedly creating a fake profile of hers on a social networking website. "I had to stay in police lock up for 12 days, and my career was ruined after the incident," Gupta told reporters.

The way he went about avenging his insult was shocking. Gupta barged into Sheetal's in-laws' house in Someshwar Park bungalows in Ghatlodia, with an air gun and a knife. He did not exactly mean to harm, but wanted to hold the people hostage till the police and media took note of the incident.

Investigating officer and police sub inspector at the Sola police station, BS Suthar, told DNA in his statement that Gupta said he had made many attempts to prove his innocence before the police department in Indore and even before the media, but when no one heard his voice, he took to making hostages of Sheetal's family as an extreme step.

Gupta did not come out of the room where he held a woman named Nayana Patel (42) hostage, till camerapersons from two specific news channels came to record his statement.