ARRESTED IN AHMEDABADLucknow: A 37-year-old Lucknow man, who collected around Rs 5 crore from several people on the promise of securing them govt jobs, staged his own kidnapping to evade mounting pressure from those demanding their money back, police said.The accused, Satyaratna Dixit, a resident of Madiaon, was traced to a hotel in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and arrested by a joint team of Madiyaon police and the North Zone surveillance unit.According to police, Dixit took money from several aspirants by promising appointments in govt departments and issuing forged appointment letters. When he failed to arrange jobs or return the money, he gave a false kidnapping alert, claiming that two SUVs were chasing him.The case came to light after his wife lodged a complaint on Oct 6, stating that her husband left home in his car and later said that two vehicles were following him. A call from another mobile number later claimed that he had been kidnapped.Madiyaon police registered a case under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an investigation.Madiaon SHO Shivanand Mishra said the police tracked a suspicious mobile number with the help of the North Zone surveillance team. Its location was traced to Ahmedabad, prompting a joint team to travel to Gujarat.Investigators found that Dixit was staying at in a hotel in Ahmedabad. After checking hotel records, the police team reached his room in the presence of hotel staff and recovered him. He was questioned and subsequently brought to Lucknow.“During questioning, Dixit told us that he had taken money from several people on the promise of arranging jobs but was unable to secure appointments or return the money,” Mishra said.As people began contacting him to demand refunds, Dixit feared that his fraud would be exposed. Police said he then called Dial 112 and falsely claimed that two vehicles were following him.He switched off his mobile phone, parked his car near Purania crossing and later boarded Sabarmati Express to Ahmedabad.
