June 7: To escape the relentless nagging by his brother and fiance, a youth staged his own kidnapping. Feeling a bit foolish, twenty-four-year-old Murtaza Akbaralli Javedwalla surrendered to the JJ Marg police on Sunday afternoon, four days after he started the drama.On June 3, Murtaza failed to return from the shop of ball bearings which he managed along with his elder brother Khomeya Rasool at C B street, Byculla. At home the Javedwallas got restive. In the evening Khomeya received an anonymous call claiming that Murtaza has been kidnapped and it will cost him Rs 40 lakh in ransom money to secure his brother's safe release. The caller demanded that the ransom money be brought to the Charni Road railway station at 12.30 am or else Murtaza's life would be in danger.The Javedwallas, residents of Underai Street at Nagpada, lodged a complaint at J J Marg police station. The police who had laid an elaborate trap for the kidnapper were disappointed. Nobody turned up at place of rendezvous.Suspecting thatthe police had been alerted, Murtaza decided to lay quite for the next two days. However, only till Sunday when he could no longer bear the life in the underground and walked to the police. According to police, during interrogations Murtaza confessed to staging the self kidnapping. He claimed Khomeya regularly nagged him over petty matters. Also, his fiancee was also pressuring him to hurry with their marriage plans.Murtaza planned to kill two birds with one stone. A ransom of Rs 40 lakh would be a good start for a new life, with a wife in tow minus the nagging. He is cooling his heels in custody while the police are yet to frame any charges against him before producing him the magistrate.
