Delhi: Woman fakes her kidnapping to extort ₹3 lakh from family; arrested
Benita Mary Jaiker, south police district’s deputy commissioner of police, said the incident came to fore around 11pm Wednesday, when the woman’s older brother informed the police that he had received a ransom call for his sister.
A woman who faked her own kidnapping to extort from her family members, and in doing so even sent photographs of herself tied and gagged to her brother, was arrested from a hotel in Agra.
The 38-year-old woman, according to police, confessed that she thought she could pull off the crime and get at least ₹3 lakh from her brother.
Benita Mary Jaiker, south police district’s deputy commissioner of police, said the incident came to fore around 11pm Wednesday, when the woman’s older brother informed the police that he had received a ransom call for his sister.
“The calls were made from his sister’s phone. He said the kidnappers had also sent him a photo of his sister which showed her bound and gagged. We registered a case on his statement and started investigations,” DCP Jaiker said.
The probe found several loopholes in the case, which led them to suspect whether the woman had indeed been kidnapped.
Jaiker said a police team visited the woman’s house and checked the CCTV footage from near the house. It showed that the woman had left her home alone at 4.11pm on Tuesday. Police said the kidnapper(s) were using the woman’s phone, but only WhatsApp. The location of the phone too was traced to a locality in Agra.
“A police team left for Agra and based on the phone’s last location, the team searched around 50 hotels and resorts. During a checking at a hotel in Tajganj Market, Agra, police found that the woman had checked in there alone and was in her room,” Jaiker said.
The woman was arrested and she later told police that she was going through some financial difficulties and had staged the kidnapping to get some money from her family.
“She said she tied herself up and also converted her voice to that of a male with the help of an app to sent the ransom message. We have recovered the rope and cloth she used to tie and gag herself from the room,” Jaiker said.