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Army captain in dock for hoax kidnap message on WhatsApp group
The army authorities contacted the police, following which cops swung into action and stopped both cars at Bann Majra village near Kurali. On quizzing the occupants, police realised it was a hoax.
Police have initiated criminal proceedings against an army captain for allegedly staging his kidnapping drama.
Captain Vikram Solanki, 25, of the 22 Sikh regiment, sent both the army and police in a tizzy on Friday night after posting a message on his unit’s WhatsApp group, claiming that he had been kidnapped. Later, it turned out to be a hoax.
Police said Solanki, who is posted in Uttarakhand and was on leave, was returning from Kasol in Himachal Pradesh along with four friends in a Volkswagen Polo car on Friday. When they reached near Kiratpur Sahib around 8pm, the driver suddenly slammed the brakes because of which a Hyundai Santro car coming from the rear rammed into their car.
As the Santro was damaged, its occupants entered into an argument with Solanki and his friends, who finally agreed to get the car repaired in Chandigarh.
Two occupants of both the cars sat in each others vehicles. Even as Solanki remained seated in his friend’s Polo car, he allegedly posted a message on his army unit’s WhatsApp group, claiming he had been kidnapped.
The army authorities contacted the police, following which cops swung into action and stopped both cars at Bann Majra village near Kurali. On quizzing the occupants, police realised it was a hoax.
Even as Solanki was handed over to the army authorities, police have initiated proceedings for his criminal prosecution under Section 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). His friends Arvind Kumar, Bal Indu Rai, Rishav Ujwal and Raman Kumar Singh also face the same charges.
Meanwhile, proceedings under Section 107 (security for keeping the peace) and 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) have been initiated against the occupants of the Santro car — Deepak Singh, Dharmender Singh, Neeraj Kumar,Vishal Kumar and Sandeep Singh of Sonepat, Haryana.
Rupnagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Swapan Sharma declined to divulge any detail, while stating that required action had been initiated and the army authorities had been informed about the matter.
