Teenager faking his abduction arrested

A 17-year-old boy, who tried to cheat his father by staging an abduction drama and demanding that a sum of Rs.77.5 million be paid to his 'abductors' to buy his release, was arrested yesterday by the Dankotuwa Police, along with two others.

This student had recently sat for the GCE O/L examination.

He had told his father he was abducted by an unknown gang in a white van and that he was being held by them until a ransom of Rs.77.5 million was paid in order to release him.

According to police, the two friends of the student were also taken into custody for helping him commit fraud. One of the two had been studying hotel management while the other was a student following a course in technology.

They had confessed that the main suspect had asked them to help with his plan to extort money from his father.

The 17-year-old boy had told police after his arrest that he believed that a rich relation of his mother would have given his parents the money to pay the ransom for his release.

He had phoned his father and said he had been abducted by unknown persons while he was on his way home after playing at the Godella Ground in Gonahena in the Dankotuwa Police Division at about 6,30 on Tuesday (13) evening. He had attempted to show that he was being harassed by one of the gang members who he said was wringing his neck.

One of the others, who had pretended to be one of the kidnappers, had phoned the boy's father and had threatened him saying he would kill the man's son if the ransom money was not paid. He also gave him directions on how to hand over the money and the place and time.

However, the boy's father, ignoring the threats made to him, had gone to the Dankotuwa Police Station and made a complaint about his son's abduction to the Dankotuwa OIC IP H. L. Dushmantha.

While the police was conducting the investigations under the direction of the Chilaw Division DIG Nuwan Wedasinghe the kidnapped student had come to the police yesterday (14) morning at about 4.00 with his father. The boy had said he was able to escape from his kidnappers and come home.

However, the Police, after getting suspicious about the way the student was explaining about what had happened to him, questioned him further and was able to get the truth out of him. (Srinath Prasanna Jayasuriya and Chandana Fernando)