Lucknow: A Class 11 student in UP’s Sant Kabir Nagar staged his kidnapping and used an AI-generated image to show his ‘injured eye’ as ‘proof’ of assault to demand ransom from his father.The 17-year-old boy faked the kidnapping to repay online gaming debts. The plot, however, was busted within hours after police traced the teenager to a friend’s house in Sant Kabir Nagar.Police said the boy had borrowed money from friends and acquaintances for his online gaming addiction. Unable to repay the loans, which he had kept secret from his family, he planned the kidnapping plot to extort money from his businessman father.SP (South) Dinesh Kumar Puri said the boy left his home around 7pm on Wednesday, telling family members that he was heading to a market. He soon switched off his mobile phone to create the impression that he had gone missing.Over the next two hours, the teenager sent a series of WhatsApp messages from his friend’s mobile to his father posing as the person who had kidnapped his son. To make the story more convincing, he shared a photograph showing what appeared to be a severely injured eye.During questioning, the student admitted that the photograph was generated using an artificial intelligence tool with the help of his girlfriend, who lives in Delhi.The teenager demanded Rs 1 lakh ransom and asked his father to transfer the money online. When the father said he could not make a digital payment, the ransom demand was raised to Rs 2 lakh in cash.Alarmed by the messages and the photograph, the father approached the police on Wednesday night.Police traced the mobile’s location between Dhanghata and Sikriganj police stations. His number was placed under surveillance as officers followed leads through the night.The investigation eventually led police to Birhi Buzurg village in Uruwa Bazaar. Around 2am, a police team reached the friend’s residence and found the teenager unharmed.The boy, who is the only son among three sisters, was later handed over to his family after questioning.
