Jhajjar gets a Cambodian bahu: Gangster Dhilla gets 12 hours to marry Meta Chan

He once used a six-week parole to disappear from India and build a new life in Cambodia. Now, after being extradited back to India, gangster Mainpal Dhilla has been granted just 12 hours out of jail to marry his Cambodian partner, Meta Chan, in Haryana's Jhajjar.Gangster Mainpal Badli is getting married in Haryana's Jhajjar district while on a 12-hour parole. (Images: AajTak/Getty)The 12-hour clock is ticking for Mainpal Dhilla. After years on the run, the jailed gangster has been given just enough time to do something rather less dramatic than the crimes that made him wanted. He's set to marry Meta Chan, his Cambodian partner, in Jhajjar, Haryana.Dhilla, around 45, has been serving life sentences in Haryana's Hisar Central Jail in connection with three murder cases. He has 22 criminal cases against him, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, criminal conspiracy and illegal arms cases. Now, instead of a police operation or a court hearing, his most closely watched appointment is a wedding.According to reports, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted Dhilla 12 hours of custody parole to marry Meta Chan, his partner. He was reportedly taken out of prison at 8 am on Thursday, and must be back to the jail by 8 pm. The wedding is scheduled at Dulina Farm in Jhajjar on Thursday, with heavy police deployed during the ceremony.Every hour of his parole is being counted this time, because Dhilla has been there, done that. In July 2018, he was released from Hisar Central Jail on a six-week parole. He was supposed to return to prison at the end of the period. He did not. Instead, Dhilla obtained a passport using forged documents and the assumed identity of Sonu Kumar. In July 2019, nearly a year after jumping parole, he left India from Kolkata, travelling via Bangkok before eventually settling in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he met the love of his life, Meta Chan.Dhilla, a native of Badli village in Jhajjar, had entered the world of crime around 2000, according to police records cited in local reports. His first major turn towards crime came after his uncle was killed. Dhilla took revenge for the killing and subsequently became involved in a series of violent crimes. Three murder cases registered in 2007 and 2010 eventually resulted in life imprisonment sentences. His criminal record later grew to 22 cases, covering serious offences ranging from murder and attempted murder to robbery, dacoity, conspiracy and possession of illegal weapons.Even while in prison, Dhilla continued to remain linked to criminal cases. In 2014, while lodged in Gurgaon's (now Gurugram) Bhondsi Jail, his name surfaced in the murder of another inmate.Then came the parole escape.After leaving the Hisar Jail in 2018, Dhilla did not return. Haryana Police declared him a proclaimed offender in 2019 and announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to his arrest. He then reached Cambodia illegally.Reports say that Dhilla met Meta Chan in Cambodia, and the two built a life in Siem Reap city, where he reportedly started a disco and had children with Chan. According to the Haryana STF, he even tried to obtain Cambodian citizenship, but was unsuccessful.Siem Reap is best known as the Cambodian gateway to Angkor Wat, the vast Hindu-Buddhist temple complex and one of Southeast Asia's biggest tourist attractions. The city has also figured in recent Indian reports on cyberscam and human-trafficking networks operating in Cambodia.Police said Dhilla had taken around Rs 1.25 crore with him when he left India. Investigators also found that he had not been involved in any known criminal activity in Cambodia during his years there.But being out of sight was not the same as being out of reach. After Haryana Police shared information about Dhilla's identity and criminal background with Interpol, the CBI and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Cambodian authorities moved against him. Interpol issued a Red Notice against him in November 2024.He was arrested in Cambodia in July 2025 and brought back to India on September 2, 2025. The Haryana STF formally arrested him after his arrival in Delhi, and he was sent back to jail.Now, almost a year later, Dhilla is being allowed out again, but under very different circumstances and very different conditions. Reports suggest that Meta Chan has arrived in Jhajjar with her four children and family members for the wedding. Dhilla's children are also expected to attend the ceremony.The gangster who once vanished from Haryana for years now has 12 hours to get married and return to prison.- EndsPublished By: Anand SinghPublished On: Sep 24, 2026 14:33 IST