20-year-old man fakes his kidnapping to raise ₹2 lakh for car from parents

Ghaziabad police on Tuesday arrested a 20-year-old man from Khoda for allegedly faking his own kidnapping in a ploy to buy a car.

Ghaziabad police on Tuesday arrested a 20-year-old man from Khoda for allegedly faking his own kidnapping in a ploy to buy a car.

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Police said Pragati Vihar resident Akash Singh planned the drama with his two friends in order to get money from his family. As part of the plan, he allegedly rented a room in a Noida hotel from where he rehearsed the plot and even made the ransom calls.

Akash Singh and his mother work at a private factory in Noida. On Monday, Singh allegedly left his home at around 8am telling his mother that his friend had called him and that he would be back soon.

“I kept waiting for him but he did not return till late evening and even searched for him, but could not find him. At around 11pm (on Monday) we received a call from unknown person who told my son was with him and demanded ₹2 lakh in ransom. He threatened to kill my son if I revealed the information to anyone,” Kiran Singh, Akash’s mother, said in her police complaint. “The caller also made us hear Akash’s voice over the phone and he was crying.”

Akash’s parents, however, went to the police and registered the complaint under Indian penal code (IPC) sections 364a (kidnapping for ransom) and 506 (criminal intimidation) against the unidentified person.

After the police initiated investigation, the caller had used the same mobile number and made four calls to the family till Tuesday afternoon. With electronic surveillance, police zeroed in on to the hotel in Noida sector-22 and busted the plot.

According to police, Aakash, who had studied up to class 8, along with his friends, Ankit Kumar and Karan Kumar (allbetween 20 and 25), had planned his own kidnapping.

“The prime suspect had been putting pressure on his family for a car. Ht got a bike that belonged to his elder brother, but he was not satisfied and planned the plot,” said Anshu Jain, circle officer (Indirapuram). “From the hotel room, they had rehearsed how to mask their voice while making the ransom calls, the language to use and how to convince the family to pay up.”

Both Akash and Ankit were arrested by police and added IPC section 120b (criminal conspiracy) to the ongoing investigation. The cops said that the third suspect is absconding and will be arrested soon.