LUCKNOW: A Class XII student, 17, who went missing after leaving home for college, was traced to Varanasi railway station in the wee hours of Monday after his family received a WhatsApp message demanding ₹10 lakh as ransom for his release.
The teenager is a resident of Parethiya village under Satrikh police station area of Barabanki district adjacent to state capital Lucknow, and the cops said that the teenager fabricated the kidnapping and threatened the family himself to obtain money.
The student had left home on Saturday to attend classes at an intermediate college in Kurauli area of Barabanki district.
When he failed to return by 4 pm, his family members tried contacting him on his mobile phone but found it switched off. Around 10 pm, the teenager’s father received a WhatsApp message from the missing boy’s mobile number.
The sender claimed that the teenager was in his custody and demanded ₹10 lakh for his release, threatening that the boy would be killed if the money was not paid.
As per Barabanki police authorities, the message from the teenager’s phone said: “Your son is with me and is somewhere near Jaunpur. If you want to save his life, pay ₹10 lakh. Call me after arranging the money. Since his phone is with me, do not call him; otherwise, we will kill him. If you go to the police, your son will not survive. If you do not pay the amount within two days, you will receive your son’s dead body. If you inform the police, I will make things worse for you and have your son’s head delivered in a parcel. Pay the money first, then take your son back. We are going to switch off the phone, so arrange the money and call when it is ready. Otherwise, I will torture him severely.”
Alarmed over the message, the family approached Satrikh police station to lodge a complaint.
According to the family, police personnel initially suspected that the teenager had left home on his own and did not immediately initiate action.
The family went back to the police station on Sunday morning, following which the police began efforts to trace him. Police tracked the mobile phone’s location to Varanasi railway station and contacted the local police for assistance.
The Varanasi police subsequently traced and safely recovered the teenager from the railway station. Circle Officer Sadar Sangam Kumar confirmed the recovery, stating that the student was found with the help of Varanasi police.
Meanwhile, the police authorities said the circumstances behind the incident are being investigated to establish how the message was sent and what prompted the teenager to leave home.
“The teenager is being counselled, while police are looking into the reasons that may have led him to enact the kidnapping drama and a forensic examination of his mobile phone will also be done,” said a senior officer privy to the probe.
