A complaint was registered by the boy's parents on January 26 (Representative Image) | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Key Highlights He was traced by means of technical surveillance, said police The boy had skipped school to visit Lucknow with his friends on January 24 He had created a fake Facebook account to make the ransom demand

Kanpur: The fear of his parents led a schoolboy in Uttar Pradesh to fake his own kidnapping. Police rescued the class-XII boy from Kanpur city's Ghantaghar area after tracing him by means of technical surveillance. A resident of Om Purwa Chakeri area, the boy had been missing since January 24.

Identified as one Swayam Kumar, the boy left home for school on the day he was last seen. Instead of heading to school, he went to Lucknow with his friends without informing either his parents or school teachers. Upon his return, Swayam realised that his parents would scold him if they found out about his decision to skip school and travel to the state capital.

He then came up with a plan to fake his own kidnapping. According to a report by The Times of India, the boy created a fake Facebook profile and sent a message to his parents. He wrote on behalf of an imaginary kidnapper claiming that he had held their boy hostage and demanded ₹1 lakh for his safe return. Parents approached Kanpur police and registered a case of kidnapping against unknown men.

As part of protocol, police initiated technical surveillance and traced the boy's cell phone to a spot in Ghantaghar, near the Kapur Central station. A team was dispatched to the area and apprehended the boy as he was about to board a train out of the city. He was then handed over to his parents and narrated his scheme.

In October of last year, a similar incident was reported from Hyderabad where a 16-year-old boy faked his own kidnapping. The boy was rescued by city police after he made a ransom call to his ownparents and demanded ₹3 lakh in exchange for his safe return. Reports at the time suggested that the boy took the extreme step after he was chided by his parents for spending too much time playing the mobile game PUBG.