Delhi Police trace man who staged his own kidnapping to hide unemployment and debts

A Delhi man allegedly staged his own kidnapping after concealing his year-long unemployment and mounting debt from his family. Police traced him to Ghaziabad, where he admitted leaving home voluntarily to avoid loan recovery agents and confronting his family

New Delhi: A 35-year-old man allegedly staged his own kidnapping after hiding his year-long unemployment from his family and coming under pressure from loan recovery agents, with Delhi Police tracing him in Ghaziabad, an officer said on Thursday.

The case surfaced after the man’s family approached police on Sunday, suspecting that he had been abducted after his car was found abandoned in Rohini.

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According to the police, the man, a resident of Rohini, had left home on August 3, telling his family he was going to work.

“The family members told police that around 8.05 pm, he called his father and said he would return home shortly. He later informed the family that his vehicle had a minor collision with an elderly couple near Rohini Sector-28 and that he was dropping them to their destination,” a senior police officer said.

A few minutes later, he called his younger brother, but only the words “Deepu… Deepu… Ruko…” were heard before the call was abruptly disconnected. His mobile phone was switched off thereafter, police said.

His family searched for him and later found his car abandoned on the road near Rohini Sector-28. Based on the complaint, Shahbad Dairy police registered a case of suspected kidnapping and the investigation was taken up by the Outer North district.

During the probe, police traced him near the Kaushambi Metro Station bus stand in Ghaziabad and reunited him with his family.

“During questioning, he told police that he had been unemployed for nearly a year but had been pretending to go to work every day to avoid revealing the truth to his family. He had also taken loans from multiple finance companies and was unable to repay the instalments, leading to mounting pressure from recovery agents,” the officer said.

The officer further said that, unable to cope with the financial stress and fearing confrontation with his family, he left home voluntarily and stayed at different places to avoid being traced, police said.

Further investigation is underway.