NEW DELHI: A man, inspired by the Bollywood movie “Sholay,” tried to reminisce the iconic water tanker scene by climbing a mobile tower in a Bhadohi village on Sunday, threatening to jump unless his “girlfriend” was brought to him for marriage. The man, identified as Pawan Pandey, ran a paan shop on the city’s main road. The standoff between Pandey and the police and firefighters lasted nearly five hours, as authorities tried to rescue him safely.Circle Officer Ashok Kumar Mishra said, “Pandey runs a paan shop on the city’s main road, and he climbed the tower near Yakubpur at around 9 am. From the top, he shouted for a woman named Khushbu and insisted she be brought to the site or he would jump.”Despite repeated attempts to locate the woman, police found no trace of her. Eventually, they had a female staff member pose as Khushbu over the phone, which successfully persuaded Pandey to descend from the tower around 2 pm.Further investigation revealed that Pandey had been communicating for two years with someone using a fake Instagram profile. Authorities said that the person behind the account had used a woman’s photograph to gain Pandey’s trust and allegedly obtained money from him under the pretext of a romantic relationship.“Pandey told us he wanted to marry Khushbu and believed people were trying to keep them apart,” Mishra explained. “However, it turned out to be a case of online fraud. Someone used a fake ID to impersonate a woman and extract money from him.”Police have filed a case against Pandey for causing public disturbance, while investigations into the online fraud continue.
