Yet another man fakes his own kidnapping for ‘fun’

MUMBAI: NP NEWS 24 ONLINE- In a bizarre incident, a man in Mumbai was arrested for making a hoax call about his own abduction. The man, who called the police said that a group of men had kidnapped him. Later, he switched off his cell phone soon after, leaving the police in a fix. The man identified as 36-year old Shivkumar Gautam called the Valiv police from his cellphone to inform about his abduction near Tungareshwar Phata on Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway in Vasai.

The report informs that Gautam has been arrested under Indian Penal Code Section 182 for providing false information, with the intent to cause a public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person. The incident took place on January 3, a week after a worker from a Vasai factory was arrested for reporting a murder that never happened.

The report states that Police reached Tungareshwar Phata and carried out a massive combing operation to find Gautam but all the efforts went in vain. When he couldn’t be traced, the Police tried to find the location of Gautam’s switched-off cell phone. They asked several locals and shopkeepers but couldn’t get any leads.

Later, the police traced Gautam’s residential address and reached Vasai Phata on January 4. They were shocked to find him fast asleep at his house.  Gautam saw the police and was frightened. He told them that he had made the call for fun and had not expected them to take his call seriously.

In December, in Noida, a software company owner and 2 guards were arrested for making a fake kidnaping call to the police previous night claiming that the owner has been kidnapped. But later while investigating, CCTV camera revealed that the owner willingly sat in the car which did not look like kidnaping. When they questioned the guards, they admitted on calling the police as insisted by the owner. The owner created the whole drama over a dispute with his business partner.

On the other hand, in Muzaffarpur, after police raided multiple places after receiving a call from a man. After various search drives, police found out the abduct in the jungle. Later investigation report revealed that the 25-year-old man created his own kidnaping to get VIP security from the police.