MP lawyer Archana Tiwari, who vanished from train, eloped to escape forced marriage: Police

MP lawyer Archana Tiwari

Bhopal police have traced 28-year-old Archana Tiwari, a lawyer and civil judge aspirant reported missing for nearly two weeks, to Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district near the Nepal border, only to find that her disappearance was not a crime but a plan to escape mounting family pressure to abandon her studies and marry, according to a FPJ report.

Tiwari, who was studying in Indore, had vanished on August 7 while travelling by train to her hometown Katni for Raksha Bandhan. Her sudden disappearance sparked a large-scale search by the Government Railway Police (GRP) across Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior, with multiple teams poring over CCTV footage, call records and social media trails.

On Wednesday, police in Bhopal confirmed that she had deliberately staged her vanishing act with help from two associates, her friend Saransh and a driver named Tijender. According to details reported by FPJ, investigators said Tiwari’s parents had fixed her marriage with a local patwari in Katni, ignoring her repeated pleas to continue preparations for her judicial service exams.

CCTV footage showed her boarding the Narmada Express in Indore, but she never reached Katni. Investigators later learnt that, acting on Tijender’s advice, she got off at Itarsi station from a coach that halted in a camera blind spot. She even changed her clothes during the journey to avoid recognition, before leaving by road for Hyderabad with Saransh and the driver.

To further mislead authorities, Tiwari left a bag on her seat in the train to give the impression she might have fallen off and died, a ploy, FPJ reported, that she hoped would quietly close her case amid a heavy load of missing-person complaints.

The trio travelled to Hyderabad in an SUV, deliberately avoiding toll plazas to prevent digital tracking. Tiwari stayed there for two to three days before the group decided to move again as media coverage of her case gained national traction.

According to FPJ, Saransh, who works with a drone start-up, suggested Nepal as a refuge, citing a client there who could help Tiwari assume a new identity. He also stopped using his primary phone to mask his movements, instead acquiring a new SIM card in his father’s name for communication.

GRP teams from Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior launched a major manhunt, excavating her call records, social media profiles and CCTV footage from multiple stations. The police officials also reportedly questioned her friends, fellow students and even train staff such as the ticket checker, attendants and passengers.This thorough investigation led police to Saransh. After being rounded up for questioning, he confessed to his role and disclosed the entire plan, leading authorities to Tiwari’s location before she could cross into Nepal.