Businessman Blocks Flyover To Celebrate Wife’s Birthday: 14 People Arrested, Land Rover Defender Seized

An Assam businessman recently organized a birthday party for his wife that landed many in trouble. He hosted the bash on a busy flyover in Guwahati, blocking traffic. A video of this celebration was later shared online. It soon went viral, and sparked massive public outrage.

The video shows the birthday bash in detail. Gautam Baruah, the businessman, is seen with his wife on a Red carpet. The road has been decorated with balloons and party materials. A White Land Rover Defender is parked behind them. Several other vehicles can also be seen parked on the flyover.

The wife cuts her birthday cake and celebrates with Baruah. Together with their friends, the couple then clicks pictures and makes videos. The party was organized at around 12:30 am on the night of June 22, on the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Flyover.

The video quickly went viral. The internet got furious. ‘Impose 1cr fine, is that fine? Using public property as their own, mindless acts or public display of affection.’ said a user. ‘Sell the rover and rent a banquet hall instead.’ noted another, sarcastically. ‘He should be fined or jailed for this’, commented a third user.

The event allegedly disrupted traffic on the flyover and caused inconvenience to passers by. Bharalumukh Police soon registered a suo motu case against the businessman. 14 People, including the couple, landed in trouble. Cops detained the people involved in the celebration and seized four vehicles used in the event. These include the Defender, a Mercedes, a Mahindra Scorpio and a Honda City. Police said Baruah was questioned over the misuse of public infrastructure.

Baruah has reportedly been charged under sections 125, 270 and 285 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Section 125 penalised any rash or negligent act that endangers human life or safety. Section 270 penalises those who commit public nuisance. 285 penalises those who cause danger, injury or obstruction to others in public ways.

Investigators are also known to be examining if the traffic through the flyover was deliberately blocked for the event or if public safety was risked. Further action may follow based on these findings.

This incident has reignited discussions around the misuse of public spaces and infrastructure for personal events. This isn’t the first time that we have come across such incidents.

In a previous incident, we saw a politician’s son block a busy highway in Chhattisgarh to film an Instagram reel with his newly-bought SUV. A section of the Bilaspur-Raipur National Highway (NH130) was blocked for filming, bringing the traffic to a complete standstill. Vedansh Sharma, the accused in this case, parked a convoy of SUVs on the road to pose for cameras. This incident occurred within the limits of Hirri and Chakarbhatha police stations. The videos were later shared online, sparking massive outrage. Following backlash, Sharma eventually took down the video.

This case soon reached the notice of High Court bench led by Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha and Justice BD Guru. It criticised Bilaspur Police for its lenient attitude in the matter. The accused in this case were served only minor challans under Section 184 of Motor Vehicles Act, and the vehicles were not seized. The court questioned these and even sought an affidavit from the government explaining why stronger charges weren’t slapped on the accused.

The police, on the other hand, explained that they had written to the RTO for getting the driver’s license suspended. No further action was apparently taken in the offence. Later, six SUVs were seized and an FIR was lodged against the people involved.

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