A man has been apprehended in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli on Monday, after staging a Bollywood-esque kidnapping of himself in order to pay off a Rs 15 lakh loan, which he had taken for gambling from a businessman hailing from the same city. According to reports, Suraj Singh, the accused, used to work for a marketing firm based in Bengaluru.

Suraj Singh informed his wife about leaving for a company assignment on the 14th of September. But after failing to contact her husband for a couple of days after his departure, she tried to find out his whereabouts by ringing his friends and relatives but failed to locate her husband. She received a text on her cellphone on 17th September, demanding Rs 15 lakh for the release of her kidnapped husband.

Fearing for the life of her husband, the panic-stricken wife reached out to the local authorities for help. The police acted swiftly and were successful in tracing the number down to Kanpur.

“On Saturday (September 17), Suraj’s wife received a message on her mobile number demanding a ransom of Rs 15 lakh for his release. She then informed the police,” Rae Bareli SP Alok Priyadarshi said.

The officials investigated the case thoroughly and learned that Suraj was involved in online gambling through surveillance. He had staged the kidnapping to pay off a loan of Rs 15 lakh, which he had taken for gambling.

“We also found out that neither he had any property issue, nor was he involved in any relationship. But it surfaced that he had taken a loan that his wife and other family members were not aware of,” the official said.

Suraj Singh was arrested by the police, who revealed that the accused has been guilty of similar incidents in the past and was also involved in several other illegal activities. According to reports, he had tried to scam his own father for an amount of Rs 3.5 Lakh in the past.