Noida: Debt-ridden con man fakes his abduction, held

The man allegedly cheated many villagers and has a debt of Rs12 lakh

A 28-year-old man who allegedly staged his abduction to garner the sympathy of villagers he had allegedly duped was tracked by the police to Chhalera village on Wednesday.

The man wanted to gain the sympathy of villagers he had allegedly duped. (Shutterstock representative photo)

The police said Sandeep, of Etawah, has been living with his family members in Barola village in Phase-2 for more than three years.

He was working as a finance agent, allegedly extending help to people for loans under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme.

The police said Sandeep, alias Rahul, was working with three other people and was running an office in Bhangel. Rahul would allegedly provide a loan application to people and charge Rs4,500 as processing fee.

He allegedly cheated many in the district and has a debt amounting to Rs12 lakh, the police said.

On Tuesday, Rahul and his ‘partners’ went to Parthala for a panchayat held by the village heads to discuss the delay in obtaining the loans.

Pradeep Shehrawat, the police post in-charge of Bhangel, said, “Rahul sat in a car with some jewellers in Bhangel. On reaching Bhangel, he told them to drop him as his bike was parked at home and he would reach the place on it.”

Shehrawat said he fled the village on his bike and was missing since evening. He did not return home; he called his family members and friends and told them that he was abducted. His family lodged a complaint with the Phase-2 police.

Rahul had allegedly informed his family that he had been abducted and taken to Mathura, and that the ‘abductors’ were demanding Rs10 lakh for his release. The police put Rahul’s phone on surveillance and traced him to Chhalera.

The information was given to his family members who accused Rahul of lying to them. “When his family members told him about his exact location, he disconnected the call. Early on Wednesday morning, he called his family and told them that he has been released and is coming home,” Shehrawat said.

The police said that when they attempted to interact with him, he stated that he was distressed and would provide a statement about the abduction later.

“We suspect he was doing it only to avoid the attention of people as he had taken money from them. He wanted this news to spread but failed,” Shehrawat said.