Policemen in front of Akbar’s house on Sunday | Photo: Indian Express
Since May, 25-year-old Sonika Chauhan and 29-year-old Akbar Khan have been facing immense turmoil after their interfaith marriage triggered tensions in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram, reportedly escalated by Hindutva groups. The couple has been separated as a result of the controversy.
Officials explained that Akbar had been arrested twice on allegations of kidnapping his own wife but was later released on bail. Police further invoked the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act, 1970, against him. According to reports, an externment notice was issued on September 4 by Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Priyadarshi.
On Sunday, police officers, accompanied by BJP leader Meena Bhandari and a drummer, reached Akbar’s residence. A viral video shows the police publicly declaring that multiple FIRs had been filed against him. Officers announced that Akbar had been exiled from Ghaziabad district and warned that any violation of the district’s boundaries within the stipulated time would invite strict action, Indian Express reported.
Police officers pasted a copy of the externment order on the door of Akbar Khan’s residence since he was not at home when they arrived. The notice mentioned that Akbar had been named in an FIR related to a 2021 rioting case and stated that people in the area were so afraid of him that very few dared to file complaints. It also referenced chargesheets filed on January 29, 2021, and July 7, 2025.
Akbar’s lawyer, Chand Alam, confirmed that his client had already left Ghaziabad on Sunday and moved to another state. He explained that they were unaware of the older FIR since it was unrelated to the couple’s current case. Alam further stated that petitions had been filed in the Allahabad High Court to seek protection against Akbar’s possible arrest.
Meanwhile, both Sonika and Akbar have asserted that they have been married for three years but now feel reduced to being identified solely by their religious backgrounds. Their ordeal began after Sonika’s father, Laxman Singh Chauhan, filed a police complaint on May 25 at Indirapuram police station, accusing Akbar and his family of kidnapping her.
According to reports, Ghaziabad Police had raided Akbar Khan’s residence in Indirapuram earlier and “handed over” Sonika Chauhan to her parents. During the same operation, police arrested Akbar, his two sisters, his sister-in-law, and a neighbour. Additionally, a mob of around 60 men allegedly attacked and vandalised Akbar’s shop.
Before Akbar’s arrest in May, a video had surfaced in which Sonika was heard stating that she wanted to live with him and revealed that the two had secretly married in August 2022 at a Delhi SDM office under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Akbar was granted bail and released on June 8. However, on July 30, Sonika’s father, Laxman Singh Chauhan, filed another kidnapping complaint, leading to Akbar’s re-arrest on August 2.
Another video, purportedly recorded by Sonika, surfaced around this time, where she claimed she had voluntarily left her home on July 30 to be with Akbar. In the video, she alleged that for the past two months, her parents and several individuals — including Meena Bhandari, Harish Karakoti, Kapil Tyagi, her maternal uncle Vikram Rawat, and paternal uncle Jagdish Singh Chauhan — had been torturing her physically and mentally.
She further claimed they pressured her to give a false statement against Akbar in court under the POCSO Act to have him imprisoned. Sonika said she resisted and insisted she would only speak the truth.
Speaking to The Indian Express in June, Sonika had said, “People keep telling me that I am Hindu and he is Muslim, that I have brought disrespect to my family… I just want to be with him. When will all this end?”