Ghaziabad News (Representative Image)
Photo: iStock
Key highlights
- A 20-year-old man assumed his own kidnapping to extort Rs 1 lakh from his family after clearing the UP police constable exam.
- The youth, who are familiar with police procedures, kept changing places to avoid arrest, passing through several cities before being found in Lucknow.
- Rohit was located in Lucknow and was arrested, and is facing charges of kidnapping for ransom under BNS Section 140(2).
Ghaziabad: A 20-year-old youth, who is the son of a police officer, carried out his own kidnapping to extort money from his family. After taking UP Police Constable Exam On Sunday, he tied his hands and feet, photographed himself and sent it to his sister with a ransom of Rs 1 lakh. As the son of a police officer, he was familiar with investigative procedures. To avoid detection, he initially traveled to the trans-Hindan region of Ghaziabad before passing through western Uttar Pradesh. He was finally arrested from Lucknow on Monday.
According to one TOI reportsDCP (Trans-Hindon) Nimesh Patil said Rohit Kumar allegedly tried to repay loans taken from various apps to invest in cryptocurrency. He claimed that he wanted to make an additional investment of Rs 60,000 expecting higher returns.
On Sunday, Rohit had left home for Bijnor to take the police exam, which was scheduled for the morning. Later that day, he sent photos to his sister via WhatsApp, showing himself as a hostage, with his hands and feet tied with ropes. The DCP reported that Rohit informed his sister that he had been kidnapped and then continued to send her messages pretending to be the kidnapper. In a message, he said his safety would be ensured only after the ransom was sent.
Rohit's sister requested additional time to arrange the ransom and agreed to transfer some of the money to an e-wallet provided by the alleged kidnapper. However, he insisted on getting proof that his brother was safe.
The DCP noted that Rohit sent his sister a picture with a freight train in the background as proof of his situation, though he did not specify his location. In between these exchanges, he also sent a message asking for Rs 100, claiming to be hungry.
While Rohit's sister continued exchanging messages with the alleged abductor late into the night, her father, Krishna Gopal, a constable in the 41 PAC battalion, lodged a complaint with the police on Monday morning. In response, five police teams, including units from Kushambi, the Trans-Hindon Swat Team, and the Crime Branch, were mobilized to trace the youth.
During the investigation, officials found that the initial photos and texts were sent from Rohit's phone in Modinagar. After that, the location of the phone passed through several towns like Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad City, Badayan, Shahjahanpur and finally Lucknow.
The officer explained that the constant movement of the youth complicated the search. Finally, Rohit's last known whereabouts were reported to be in Naka Hindola area of Lucknow. When the police team reached there around 6 pm, they found him alone, walking outside a restaurant.
Rohit was brought back to Ghaziabad that night and was arrested on Tuesday under BNS Section 140(2) for kidnapping for ransom.