Dubai: A 20-year-old Syrian man has been arrested for "kidnapping" himself and asking his parents to pay 30 million Syrian pounds (Dh207,000) as a ransom, local media reported.
According to the Ministry of Interior, the young man texted his parents from an anonymous WhatsApp number claiming he was the kidnapper of their son and asked them to pay 30 million Syrian pounds in exchange of the son’s release.
The man’s father immediately reported the incident to the criminal investigation department (CID) in Latakia, which launched an investigation into the alleged kidnap.
The CID officers in cooperation with the parents of the young man set up a trap to arrest the kidnappers. They lured them to some place to hand them the ransom.
However, when the kidnappers showed up to take the money, it turned out that the kidnapped man himself was the kidnapper and was just faking the entire incident due to family dispute with his parents and his need for money.
He was arrested and admitted that he fabricated the incident following some family issues. He said he had booked a room in a hotel in Latakia and texted his mother from a new WhatsApp number.
