NEET Aspirant Fakes Own Kidnapping to Pay Online Gaming Debt and Fund Trips with Girlfriend

A 17-year-old NEET aspirant allegedly staged his own kidnapping to recover from mounting online gaming debts and arrange money for trips with his girlfriend, according to police. The teenager, who is from Delhi, was staying in a rented house in Lucknow’s Alambagh area while preparing for the medical entrance examination. He had reportedly developed an online gaming habit and accumulated a debt of ₹50,000. Unable to repay the amount, he allegedly planned to extort money from his father by pretending to have been kidnapped. When his phone became unreachable and his whereabouts remained unknown from October 20, his family approached the police.

The situation escalated when the teenager’s brother, parents and maternal uncle received WhatsApp messages claiming that he had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom of ₹5 lakh. The sender allegedly threatened to kill him if the money was not paid. Meanwhile, the teenager contacted his cousin through his phone, claiming that he did not know where he was and had no money to buy food. He also sent her a QR code requesting financial help, following which she transferred ₹2,000. Using the online transaction as a lead, police traced the teenager to another location, where he was found with his girlfriend and taken into custody. During questioning, he reportedly admitted that nobody had kidnapped him and that he had fabricated the incident to obtain money.