Man fakes kidnap of son to pay off debt, held

A 32-year-old man has been arrested for faking the kidnap of his own son to pay off a debt, police said today.
P Ravikumar, who runs a travels firm here, was arrested yesterday after police found that he had faked the abduction of his three year-old son to repay an outstanding debt.
The accused person staged the kidnap drama on Tuesday, when he called up his wife and said that some persons 'kidnapped' their son after attacking him while on his way to drop the child at the school, police said.
He told her that a ransom demand for Rs five lakh was made, following which she pledged some of her jewels to arrange for the cash.

Ravikumar told his family that the 'kidnappers' had asked him to come alone to pay the 'ransom' and went away with the money.
However, his wife had preferred a complaint with the police following which they launched an enquiry.

In the meantime, the accused person returned home with the child following which police got suspicious and enquired him and he spilled the beans, they said.
Ravikumar admitted to have staged the kidnap drama to payoff the debt following which the police arrested him.
He had left the child at a friend's place asking him to take care of his son for a while.

The friend was reportedly unaware of Ravikumar's plans.