New Delhi, Dec 29: Police has arrested a 22-year-old youth for staging his own kidnap and demanding a hefty ransom of Rs 20 lakhs from his father so that he could take his girlfriend for a holiday abroad.

Pawan Verma, a son of a businessman, was arrested on Sunday, Dec 27, after he went missing on Saturday, Dec 26.

"Pawan left his Karol Bagh shop around 4 pm after receiving a phone call. When he did not return for quite some time, Pawan"s father called on his mobile phone and somebody else picked the phone and told him Pawan had been kidnapped," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Jaspal Singh said on Monday, Dec 29.

The 'kidnappers' later sent a message from Pawan's mobile demanding for a ransom of Rs 20 lakh. All the communications were done through text messaging, the police officer informed.

The police then started responding to the texts and fixed a place for delivering the ransom.

The 'abductors' agreed to Pawan's brother, Puneet, placing the ransom money in the bushes around Dwarka sector nine.

“A police team was positioned nearby with Puneet and after some time Pawan came to pick the money bag. He was arrested and he confessed to planning the ransom drama to take his girl friend for a holiday to Macau," the DCP said.

Pawan's friend, Himanshu has also been arrested for helping Pawan.

Pawan staged his own kidnap to be able to afford a trip to Macau with his girlfriend to celebrate the new year.

OneIndia News