Bengaluru man stages kidnapping with friends, demands Rs 90 lakh from father; police trace him to Hassan, find him sitting comfortably with alleged accomplices

A 40-year-old man, along with two friends, staged his own kidnapping and demanded Rs 90 lakh from his 62-year-old father in a 40-hour drama that unfolded across Bengaluru and Hassan. The suspense ended when police discovered that the alleged kidnapping was a plan scripted by the man, who was seeking money from his father, a timber merchant, reported TOI.

Man tells father he is travelling to Gadag

According to the TOI report, Manish Patel informed his father Manohar that he was travelling from Bengaluru to Gadag on Tuesday night to collect money from an acquaintance. He informed his father that he would travel by train and call him the next morning.

However, around 8 am on Wednesday, Manohar received a call from Manish’s phone, but a stranger was on the other end. The caller claimed Manish had been abducted and demanded a ransom of Rs 90 lakh.


Manohar received 4-5 such calls at regular intervals before the phone went silent. Fearing for his son’s safety, he approached RR Nagar police in Bengaluru and lodged a complaint on Wednesday evening.

Police trace phone to Hassan

Police couldn’t track Manish’s phone as it remained switched off. The mystery deepened when the family received a call from an unidentified number asking whether the ransom had been arranged.

Police traced the phone’s location to Hassan. When they knocked on the door of a suspected house on Thursday morning, they found Manish sitting comfortably with two friends, Sunil and Nagaraj. There was no sign of kidnapping.

Man arrested with two friends

Deputy commissioner of police (West) Yatish N said Manish had conspired with his two friends to stage the kidnapping drama. All three were arrested by the police.

Police are investigating why Manish wanted Rs 90 lakh and what he planned to do with the money.

Manish helps his father run the timber business. The family had earlier lived in Hassan before moving to Bengaluru, while the two arrested men are his friends from Hassan.