Youth fakes own kidnap for ransom

ADG (Law & Order) Brij Lal said the STF was called to probe the case after Mohit’s driver Devendra lodged a complaint with the City Kotwali police station of Mathura.

Devendra told police that Mohit had gone to Mathura with him in a Santro car on December 4. Near Hotel Highway Plaza,Mohit asked him to fetch a bottle of water. When he returned,Mohit and the car were missing. He called up Mohit on his cellphone,but there was no response.

Devendra then informed Mohit’s elder brother Vikram about the matter,who reached Mathura along with his father.

The STF Additional SP,Shahab Rashid Khan,said while Lohia and Vikram were lodging a complaint about the disappearance of Mohit,his wife Shashi received a call from Mohit’s number. The caller told her that her husband had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore. The Mathura police found Mohit’s car parked outside the railway station the same night.

The STF team then traced the location of Mohit’s cellphone — in Delhi,Jaipur,Meerut and Muzaffarnagar — and finally caught him at the bus station in Agra’s Nai Mandi.

One of his friends,Raju Chheepa,was also arrested. The two had arrived in Agra from Jaipur by bus.

Khan said Mohit has admitted to faking his own kidnapping. He had borrowed Rs 27 lakh from moneylenders to meet his expenses and needed to return the money.

His friends Raju Chheepa,Anuj Khandelwal alias Golu,Sanjay Agrawal alias Pinta,Rohit Maheshwari alias Pintu,Pramod Gujar and Rajveer helped him in the plan.

Pramod and Rajveer used to make ransom calls to his mother and wife while he stayed in hotels in Delhi,Jaipur,Meerut and Muzaffarnagar. After leaving his car at Mathura,he had travelled to Delhi by train along with Raju,Pramod and Rajveer,the ASP added.