Udupi: Youth enacts kidnap drama to extort Rs 5 Lakhs; ends up behind bars

The police and the parents of the youth, who was supposedly abducted, were shocked after the case turned out to be something else entirely.

Investigation revealed ‎Varun Nayak (25) had enacted the kidnapping drama to fleece money from his parents for fulfilling his gambling addiction.

‎On June 26, around 3 am, Varun ‎‎called his parents‎‎ from his mobile number and told them that unknown persons had kidnapped him and demanded Rs 5 lakh as ransom for his release.‎

Concerned for his safety, the parents lodged a complaint about the abduction with the Udupi city police. Acting on the complaint, police formed special team to track the youth.

Police tracked the youth’s mobile to be operating from Goa and dispatched two cops to the neighbouring state to bring back the youth. However, they were shocked to find him in a casino enjoying himself with his friends.

Varun was brought back to Udupi and was questioned about his claims of abduction. He told the police that he had made up the story to extort money from his parents. He had stopped his studies midway and was unemployed. Lacking money to enjoy life with his friends, he concocted the abduction story to scare his parents into giving him the money.

For his charades, Varun is now in lockup. Police took action against him for wasting police time and for his intention to extort money from his parents. He was produced before the court which remanded him to 15-day judicial custody.