Groom involved in kidnap case: police

A day after Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi's younger daughter got married under dramatic circumstances, police on Thursday said the groom had a criminal past.

Sirish Bharadwaj (22), who married Srija (19) at a secret ceremony in Arya Samaj temple on Wednesday, was involved in the kidnapping of a girl five years ago, Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police station inspector Venkata Ratnam said.

He was arrested on March 30, 2002 and was subsequently released on bail, Ratnam said.

The case, registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the girl's father, was then treated as a juvenile offence as Bharadwaj was still a minor.

The case came to light in the wake of the flutter created by the marriage. Srija, a CA student, defied her family's wishes and walked out of her home to enter into wedlock with her boyfriend Bharadwaj, with whom she was in love for four years.

The couple had sought police protection fearing threat to their lives from the actor's family.

However, the whereabouts of the couple was still not known, as they are yet to contact their families.

While Chiranjeevi is said to be in a state of shock ever since he learnt of his daughter's marriage, the groom's father Venkata Ramana Murthy, an advocate, said he and his wife were staying at a relative's place as they feared threat from the actor's fans.

Murthy admitted his son was involved in a kidnap case five years ago. He made it clear that he had disapproved of the marriage proposal and told his son not to go ahead with his plans.