Techie fakes kidnap to pay off his debts

Takes friends' help to extract ransom from his mother

Techie fakes kidnap to pay off his debts

Takes friends' help to extract ransom from his mother

A mother's love knows no bounds. Anand Venkatesh (32), a city-based techie counted on the adage being true and deliberately got himself kidnapped to extract money from his mother. He was caught when he came back home from his 'release' and was questioned by the R T Nagar police.
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According to police officials, on Friday, Venkatesh's mother Prema, who was in the US with her daughter, received a call from Venkatesh's cell phone.

The caller was an unknown person who informed her that Venkatesh was in their captivity. The calling party demanded money in exchange for his release, as Venkatesh had caused huge losses to their company by giving a project to another firm, who shut down and absconded with the money.

More calls

A shocked Prema immediately called up her residence in RT Nagar where her relatives informed her that Venkatesh had left for Chennai on work a week back.

He had told them he would return in three days, but had not done so and was not available even over the phone. Prema rushed back to Bangalore and tried to call Venkatesh but his mobile was out of reach.

On Saturday, the 'kidnappers' called Prema and on her insistence, allowed her to speak to Venkatesh. "They beat me and torture me everyday, besides threatening to kill me," Venkatesh reportedly told Prema, begging her to get him released. The line then got disconnected. When Prema tried to call back, the phone was out of reach.

Cops crack case

Prema then filed a complaint with the R T Nagar police. The cops began their investigations, but Venkatesh returned home yesterday. On questioning him, they found out that he had faked his own kidnap.

R T Nagar Sub Inspector H S Venkatesh said, "We have registered a case against him under Section 342. He was released on bail. The kidnap was a false one. He had a loan to pay off. When he realised he would be unable to pay it off, he took this escape route. He also took the help of his friends and we will question them too."

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