UP teen uses AI-generated image to fake kidnapping, demands ₹2 lakh from father to pay off gaming debt
The ransom message to his father, a cloth merchant, read that the 16-year-old would be killed if the money was not transferred.
A 16-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur town allegedly staged his own kidnapping after going into debt from online gaming, police reported on Thursday. The Class 11 student reportedly enlisted his girlfriend in Delhi to help create an AI-generated image of himself with blood on his face and a taped mouth, according to PTI.
The teenager then sent the fake image and a demand for ₹1 lakh via WhatsApp to his father, threatening to kill him if the ransom wasn't paid. When his father could not fulfill the demand, the student allegedly upped the ransom to ₹2 lakh, which he managed to acquire by borrowing money from friends and others. His father, a cloth merchant in Sant Kabir Nagar, contacted the police after realizing his son's safety was in jeopardy.
Police placed the teenager's phone under surveillance and found him at a friend's house in Sikriganj around 2 am. The teenager confessed to staging the kidnapping to raise money and repay his gaming debts, according to Additional SP South Dinesh Kumar Puri. Police are now investigating if others were involved in the scheme.
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