UP kidnap turns out child’s play

When children of his age cook up stories of superheroes and alien beings, nine-year-old Abunay Rastogi devises tricks to mislead the police....

When children of his age cook up stories of superheroes and alien beings, nine-year-old Abunay Rastogi devises tricks to mislead the police.

Over the past two days, the boy kept the Lucknow police running round in circles by faking his abduction. He told them how he had been kidnapped by three persons and where he had been kept hostage. The police raided over a dozen places and rounded up at least five criminals for interrogation, following ‘‘tips’’ from the boy.

‘‘He is in a habit of doing such things. He fled from home four times with money. He also misled the GRP in Lucknow, the police at Rae Bareli and Barabanki by giving them wrong information about his abduction,’’ said Abinay’s father, Raj Kumar Rastogi.

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The nightmare for the Lucknow police began when Abhinay, with tears rolling down his cheeks, told a police constable that he had managed to flee from his three captors. He was immediately taken to the Hazratganj police station where he identified two criminals, whose photographs were pasted on the board, as his abductors.

The two criminals, who were already in police custody, were beaten up for information about the kidnap. Abhinay, meanwhile, was treated to food of his choice and was also taken to the Lucknow Mahotsava.

His drama came to an end when Abhinay tried to flee from the police station on Sunday, realising that his ‘‘kidnap theory’’ will not hold for long. Some constables spotted him running away and brought him back to the police station, where after a few slaps, he admitted that he had faked the kidnap. He also gave his parent’s address.