12 Kolkata: A 20-year-old youth, who was ‘kidnapped' was rescued from Jharkhali near Basanti by cops from Garfa PS on Tuesday. Later, cops found out that he set up the entire trap only to extort Rs 14 lakh from his father and pay back loans that he had taken from multiple people.
Police said the youth, a resident of Banerjee Lane in Garfa, went ‘missing' from his residence. A few hours later, his father received a call from his ‘distressed' son who stated that he was being held captive at Jharkhali and his father needed to pay a huge ransom to rescue him.
An officer said, "The father informed us about the matter and seeked our help. However, the father also thought it was odd that his ‘kidnapped son' was calling him up for the ransom. The call was analysed, and the local district police were roped in to investigate the incident. Taking their help, the youth was ‘rescued'. During interrogation, the youth told us that he was forced to act this way since he took loans from multiple people and needed to return their money."
Cops from Garfa PS advised counselling for the youth. A probe is also underway to find out the youth's involvement in investing in fake trading and gaming apps. "To extort money from his father, the youth seems to have consulted his friends before hatching the plan," said another cop.