{
  "id": 1690959,
  "title": "UP Teen Stages His Own Kidnapping To Extort ₹5 Lakh From Family In Pune, Police Investigation Exposes Plot",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/up-teen-stages-his-own-kidnapping-to-extort-5-lakh-from-family-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T10:32:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/up-teen-stages-his-own-kidnapping-to-extort-5-lakh-from-family-in-pune-police-investigation-exposes-plot"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A 19-year-old from Uttar Pradesh has been accused of staging his own kidnapping in Pune, Maharashtra, to extort five lakh rupees from his family, according to police investigations. The youth, identified as Om Prakash Gaurishankar, allegedly orchestrated the plan due to financial troubles. He sent his family videos of himself crying, claiming he had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh for his safe release. However, police traced his location to a lodge in Pune and found him unharmed. Om Prakash confessed to staging the incident to scare his family into paying the demanded ransom, which was subsequently taken into custody by the police.",
  "summary": "Pune : A teenager from Uttar Pradesh allegedly staged his own kidnapping in Maharashtra's Pune and even sent a video of himself crying to convince his family that he had been abducted to extort Rs 5 lakh. The 19-year-old's plan was to scare his family into paying the money, but the deception came to light when police traced his location to a lodge in Pune. The incident took place on Sunday, and…",
  "key_points": [
    "19-year-old Om Prakash Gaurishankar from Uttar Pradesh accused of staging kidnapping in Pune.",
    "Youth demanded ₹5 lakh ransom from family, claiming he was kidnapped.",
    "Police traced location to Pune lodge, found him unharmed, arrested Om Prakash."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}