Ghaziabad: 19-year-old man arrested for faking own abduction

Senior officers said they probed the case as that of kidnapping, after several pictures of the man tied to a chair were sent to his sister’s mobile phone late Saturday

The Ghaziabad police on Tuesday arrested a 19-year-old man who allegedly planned and faked his own kidnapping to extract ₹1 lakh from his family after having invested in crypto currency through an app and lost money.

After being traced in Lucknow, during questioning the man told police that he had invested ₹24,000 to purchase bitcoins, and required more money to improve his credit score for withdrawal of bitcoins. (HT Photo)

Senior officers said they probed the case as that of kidnapping, after several pictures of the man, identified as Rohit Kumar, tied to a chair were sent to his sister’s mobile phone on late Sunday night (August 25).

The family immediately filed a police complaint, and police registered an FIR of kidnapping for ransom in the matter, senior officers said.

Police said Kumar is a resident of 41 battalion of the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) campus in Kaushambi and son of a PAC head constable.

Sarvesh Pal, station house officer (SHO) of Kaushambi police station, said, “The pictures were sent around midnight of August 25. The pictures showed the man tied to a chair and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₹1 lakh for his release.”

“Considering the sensitivity of the case, several police teams and a SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team were roped in to rescue the man. Our surveillance team also started tracking themobile phone location which was found in Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Sitapur and finally in Lucknow,” he said.

Officers said the teams finally traced Kumar to Lucknow on August 26.

He told police that he had invested ₹24,000 to purchase bitcoins, and required more money to improve his credit score for withdrawal of bitcoins.

“He had gone on August 23 to Bijnor to appear for a competitive examination. He returned to Kaushambi on August 25. As per plan, he clicked his photos using the timer on his mobile phone and by tying himself to a chair at a plant nursery near Kaushambi,” Pal said.

“After that, Kumar boarded a bus and reached Modinagar. From there, he sent the pictures to his sister’s mobile phone. His family later alerted the police. In between, he would drop short messages about the ransom money and would switch off his phone. Finally, our teams traced him to Lucknow and it turned out to be a case of fake kidnapping,” the SHO said.

Kumar was trying to check-in at a hotel in Lucknow when the police traced and nabbed him, officers said, adding that apart from teams from Ghaziabad police, other teams from different districts of Uttar Pradesh also helped in the investigation.

It is not yet clear whether the police will register a case against Kumar for faking his kidnapping and misleading the police.