A 'breaking news' that was not

Mumbai: This was not a piece of news the blasts-wrecked Mumbai was probably waiting for.

But then, the news did create sensation.

A prominent Mumbai daily on Thursday carried on its cover, what it claimed to be the first and exclusive photograph of Mahrukh, daughter of Dawood Ibrahim, and Junaid, son of former Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad.

Captioned 'Bullion dollar smile', the 'breaking news' created quite a buzz in Mumbai, for, since the much-hyped July 2005 marriage, nobody has seen the newly-weds.

In fact, it was one of the most-secretive and most-talked-about marriage in the subcontinent.

Only a few high-profile selected guests were invited to the extremely private wedding and those who attended the marriage made sure that no information or photos were leaked.

Media was kept at bay all through the wedding ceremony and the duo didn't make an appearance before the media after their wedding.

It was this secretiveness that had made the two hot, newsy stuff and the Mumbai daily claimed all credit for being the first to blow the cover.

The newspaper claimed it to be an "exclusive picture of the blushing bride and news about the London-based couple's first wedding anniversary celebrations."

However, the claim fell flat within hours, or so it appears if one is to go by an account given by a prominent Hindi news channel.

The 24x7 news channel claimed on Thursday evening that the groom who figured in the photograph is indeed a Dubai-based Indian, but he is not Dawood's son.

The TV channel even featured the parents of the bride, who are currently based in Chennai and who regretted the fact that their daughter was featured in such a way and with a wrong identity.

They have even threatened legal action against the newspaper.

While IBNLive.com has not been able to independently verify the actual status of the photograph, there is confusion in Mumbai as to which account to believe.

Efforts to contact the editor of the Mumbai newspaper for comments proved futile.

However, the newspaper has since withdrawn the report from its website.

The image is nowhere to be found and even the e-paper edition of the newspaper has blacked out the original edition and swapped the cover page with the cover of its evening edition, which featured some other story.

This has only given more credence to the TV story.

The Friday edition of the daily, however, didn't carry any clarification on this.