Two cousins stage kidnapping for ransom to mimic a television series

A recent incident in India proves just how right the belief that life mimics art is. People draw all sorts of inspirations from movies and web series. While most like to take back the positive learnings, some try to turn fiction into reality – and end up miserably.

According to police reports, two 22-year-old cousins staged a fake abduction, inspired by a famous web series, and asked their family for a ransom of Indian Rs200,000.

The accused, Nadeem and Aftab, are neighbours who snatched a mobile phone from a woman on the same day.

Police reports said Nadeem worked in a furniture shop with his father, but neither did his father allow him to ever drink alcohol nor did he give him any extra money.

So they decided to stage a kidnapping, learning the strategies from a web series ‘Breathe: Into the Shadows’ following which Aftab made a fake ransom call to his father requesting ransom.

Only after the police received a call from Aftab’s father who told them that his nephew, Nadeem, had been abducted, the matter opened up.

The father also told police that the abductor had demanded a ransom for the release of Nadeem.

The Deputy Police Commissioner of the region, RP Meena, reportedly said, “Our police team initiated a search and checked CCTVs in the area. We also checked call detail records of Nadeem’s phone and found that he was in constant touch with a female friend. When contacted, his friend told police that Nadeem was with his cousin Aftab.”

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The complainant reportedly claimed during the investigation that his son Aftab was also missing. When the CCTVs were examined, it emerged that no such abduction had taken place, he added.

Later, police received another call about a woman being robbed of her cell phone near Jamia Nagar, and it was discovered when the CCTV’s were reviewed that both Aftab and Nadeem were involved in the snatching, the officer said.

The two men were arrested following raids.