Wedding caterer who vanished with advance arrested

Surat: Dumas police arrested a caterer who took a 2,500-plate order for a wedding — with advance payments from the bride's and the groom's sides — and disappeared. Another caterer was arranged at the last moment. According to the FIR, Prakash Patel, 57, had scheduled his daughter's wedding for Nov 22, at his home in Bhimpore village. He was given a reference for the village's caterer, Paresh Trivedi. Patel called Trivedi and gave him an order for 1,500 plates at the rate of Rs 230 per plate. The bridegroom's father, Harshad Patel, also gave him an order based on the reference, for 1,000 plates at Rs 207 per plate. Both parties paid him a total of Rs 3.06 lakh as an advance against the total bill of Rs 5.52 lakh. When Patel called Trivedi on Nov 20, his phone was switched off. When he went to Trivedi's house in Amroli, neighbours told him that he shifted eight months ago. With Trivedi missing, Prakash arranged another caterer at the last moment and incurred extra costs. The guests also did not enjoy the food as the menu and caterer were arranged at the last moment. After the wedding, Prakash found that Trivedi was living at Shiv Darshan Society in Amroli. On enquiring there, Trivedi's wife told Prakash that he was out of town. From neighbours there, Prakash learned that Trivedi's conduct regarding money was improper. He approached Dumas police on Feb 11 with a complaint. Based on it, an FIR was filed against Trivedi, and he was arrested. Dumas police inspector N V Bharwad said: "We are investigating if he cheated other people and where he spent the money."