Man kidnapped by 'Facebook friend' and her accomplices

Five persons including a woman were arrested by Rajkot police in Gujarat Sunday for allegedly kidnapping a man for ransom after luring him into a trap using social media.

Nitu Rawal, one of the accused, allegedly befriended the victim Suresh Chhabriya three days ago, said an officer from Pradyumnnagar police station.

"She sent him a friend request on Facebook using a fake account. They started chatting and decided to meet in a garden Sunday," the officer said.

"When Chhabriya went to meet her, four men arrived on the spot and beat him up claiming that they were her brothers," the official said.

The accused then allegedly took Chhabriya to an isolated place in the city where they asked him to marry the woman. They also called up the victim's family and allegedly demanded Rs 12 lakh 'for marriage'.

After the family approached police, police decided to set a trap and asked the family to offer the kidnappers Rs 40,000 as the first instalment.

When the accused arrived to collect the money, they were arrested and Chhabriya was rescued.

Apart from Rawal, the other accused were identified as Shanu, Afzal, Asif and Harkishan Singh.

All of them were booked under IPC sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 384 (extortion).