In a peculiar incident, a car parked in the driveway of a man named Anoop Kumar Shukla was doused with gasoline and set on fire on the intervening night of 3rd and 4th March by two people in the Shyamnagar neighbourhood of Chakeri area in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur. The entire episode was captured on CCTV camera. The accused who are from Indore, Madhya Pradesh were arrested by the police. The reason behind the incident was a romantic relationship between Vaibhav Shukla and Deep Tanwania who is transgender.
The two young men fell in love and promised to marry each other while Vaibhav was staying in Indore. Afterwards, Deep underwent a sex change operation to become female for the sake of love, and became Deepa from Deep. According to Deep, she spent a hefty amount of one crore rupees for the surgery, however, there was a rift between the couple after which Vaibhav came to Kanpur and refused to tie the knot with her.
Reportedly, Vaibhav and Deep met online, gradually they became closer and expressed their desire to marry. In July 2022, they met each other in Vrindaban. However, Vaibhav allegedly pressured Deep to undergo a sex change before the marriage. Accordingly, Deep underwent the procedures of breast surgery and facial surgery, spending almost Rs 1 crore. He also changed the name to Deepa after the procedure.
However, when Deepa approached Vaibhav for the marriage, Vaibhaw refused, saying that even though Deep had undergone the sex change operation, she couldn’t become pregnant.
Deepa was offended by the rejection and travelled to Kanpur with a friend named Rohan, and leased a scooter online. Afterwards, they reached Vaibhav’s house with gasoline, threw it on the vehicle stationed in front of the place and burned it. The car, owned by Vaibhav’s father Anup Kumar Shukla, was parked in front of a restaurant on the ground floor run by Vaibhav’s nephew. Deepa had intended for the home to burn down completely when she set the automobile on fire but this did not happen as the people in the vicinity put out the flames as soon as it started.
The authorities then reached the spot and identified the accused with the help of CCTV cameras. Later it was discovered that Deep and her companion went to the Chakeri Police Station to file a complaint but the cops stated that it wasn’t possible as the matter was already registered in Indore. Deep was infuriated after the development and decided to carry out the crime.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the culprits were attempting to flee to Indore when they were nabbed. Police held a press conference after Deep turned Deepa was detained, where she was present. Deep claimed that she and Vaibhav took an oath to live and die together, however, he is now trying to escape while the entire blame is levelled on her. She demanded that the police should also arrest him and take action against him.
Vaibhav Shukla lives with his family in Shyamnagar Double Road Rampuram Housing Society. The car was under a plastic shed constructed outside the eatery. He said he locked the car and walked upstairs on the night of the occurrence at around 11:45 pm. A bright glow from the fire appeared after some time. The restaurant staff who were eating fled outside upon witnessing this. The fire was brought under control with the help of water and fire extinguishers, among other things. The authorities were notified.
The CCTV footage showed that a young person got off the scooter, opened the grill gate and entered the premises at 12:18 am. The accused used a match to start the fire after soaking the vehicle with gasoline from a plastic bottle. They then approached the scooter that was standing some distance away and headed toward the bypass.
Twelve CCTV clips of the area were examined but the two-wheeler’s number couldn’t be seen clearly. However, later the police managed to arrest both the culprits.
It could have been a serious incident if the fire had penetrated the plastic shed and destroyed the restaurant and the building. There were ten people in the building at that time, including the restaurant staff, and there was no other way out of the place. The place is also flanked by a bank and commercial building, which houses many offices and business establishments. Fortunately, the fire was put out by the restaurant workers in a timely manner.