Cancer Patient Gets Abducted For Ransom, But Suspect Says 'Victim' Staged Kidnapping

KEY POINTS

Virendra Kumar, 42, was abducted on Dec. 13
Anuj Kumar received a ransom demand of around $6,575 for his father's release
The alleged abductor confessed to the crime and said Virendra was involved in the plot
Virendra has yet to be found, and the incident is still being investigated

A missing 42-year-old cancer patient in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh faked his own kidnapping earlier this month and asked for a ransom of more than $6,500 from his son, the man's alleged abductor claimed following his arrest.

Virendra Kumar, of Nagla Khangar village in Firozabad, was abducted on Dec. 12, newspaper The Times of India reported.

Kumar, a regular radiotherapy patient at Agra's Sarojini Naidu Medical College, left for the city on Dec. 9 and was able to talk to his son, Anuj Kumar, on the night before he was kidnapped, according to the outlet.

Anuj received a call on Dec. 13 asking for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh ($6,575) for the release of his father. Rather than giving in to the demand, the younger Kumar submitted a complaint to Agra police, who arrested the man allegedly responsible for the ransom call.

The man, identified only as Hariom, later confessed to making the call, but he claimed during interrogation that Virendra was involved in the abduction as well and that he was only asked to make the call, according to police.

Hariom did not disclose any information regarding the location of Virendra, MM gate police station house officer AK Avasthi said. He was later sent to jail following court orders.

"Soon, we will take him in custody on police remand," Avasthi said.

The incident is being investigated, the station house officer added.

In a similar story, a 19-year-old man in Arizona was arrested earlier this year after he faked his own kidnapping to avoid work.

Police found Brandon Soules near a water tower in the city of Coolidge on Feb. 10 with his hands bound behind his back and a bandana stuffed in his mouth.

Soules told police he was kidnapped by two masked men, who knocked him unconscious and drove him around in a vehicle before leaving him by the water tower.

Additionally, Soules claimed he was kidnapped due to a large amount of money his father hid around town.

However, an investigation found no evidence that a kidnapping or an assault happened.

Soules was arrested on Feb. 17 for false reporting to the police. He later confessed to making up the story and pleaded guilty to the crime.

"He fabricated the story because he didn't want to go to work," a police official said.