Police formed three teams to investigate the matter. (Representational)
A 24-year-old man allegedly faked his own kidnapping to extort Rs five lakh from his uncle to apparently fund his sister's wedding, police said on Monday.
The man was identified as Salman Khan, a resident of North Delhi's Wazirabad, works as a painter, they said.
On Sunday, Khan's uncle, identified only as Mudassir, informed police that his nephew had been kidnapped by four people who had demanded a ransom of Rs five lakh, the police said.
The man further told the police that Khan had called up his brother Arshad, who lives in a village in Amroha, and informed him that he had been kidnapped from Yamuna Pusta, they said.
Subsequently, police formed three teams to investigate the matter, scanned CCTV footage of the locality and traced the location from where the calls were made, officials said.
During another call, Khan also informed his brother that he was locked in a room and was beaten up badly, and he requested him to arrange the ransom amount immediately, they said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Monika Bhardwaj said the location of the call was traced near ISBT, Anand Vihar.
"On analysing CCTV footage, we found out the victim had gone alone. Immediately, we sent our team to ISBT Anand Vihar, but Khan's mobile phone was found to be switched off. Later, we found him sitting near a drain near Anand Vihar ISBT," she said.
On questioning, he initially tried to mislead police by saying that he was kidnapped and let off at the spot by some criminals, Bhardwaj said. However on sustained interrogation, he confessed that he was in dire need of money and since his uncle, Mudassir, had enough money, he faked his abduction, she said.
He thought Mudassir would pay the ransom to secure his release and he would use the money for his sister's wedding, the DCP said.
Action has been taken against Khan under relevant section of the Indian Penal Code for staging his own kidnapping, she added.