Nagpur May 5: A 19-year-old college student from Bhayander faked her own kidnapping, travelled 800km to Nagpur and landed up at the doorstep of her 'Facebook friend', whom she had met online and became obsessed with. The male friend, 21-year-old Ravi (name changed), who was shocked to see the girl in his hometown, and escorted her to Mumbai, but she simply followed him back to Nagpur. Luckily for Rupali (name changed), Ravi did not take advantage of her and alerted the police when she arrived at Nagpur the second time around.
On April 27 evening, Rupali-a second-year commerce student from Bhayander-left home to attend coaching classes at Andheri. When she did not return home in the evening, her parents tried to contact her on her cellphone, only to find it switched off. After frantically calling all her friends who said they had not seen the girl, her parents lodged a missing person's complaint with the D N Nagar police in Andheri. On one of his many attempts trying Rupali's cellphone number, her father got through to her on April 28.
She told him that she had been kidnapped by two men while returning home from her tuition classes on April 27 evening. She said the kidnappers had forced her into a Maruti van, and she was being held at an unidentifiable location. Before her father could get more information, the line got disconnected, and the phone was of reach again.
The parents panicked and alerted the Bhayander police who began tracing the girl's movements. They learned that Rupali had not attended her coaching class lectures the day she disappeared. They kept a tab on her cellphone, and found that it was being used to call a Nagpur number. The police contacted their counterparts at Sitabuldi police station in Nagpur, and the number was traced to a mobilephone belonging to Ravi.
When questioned by the police, the youth informed them that he was surprised when Rupali called him out of the blue on April 28 saying that she had come to Nagpur to meet him. "It turns out that they met online in August last year and became e-friends," said a police official. It was later learnt that Rupali had developed a habit of befriending strangers on the internet. "Ravi told us that he had escorted Rupali to Bhayender on April 29 and dropped her off at the railway station after she promised him that she'd return home." It's a 12-hour train journey.
On May 1, Ravi received a call from a public telephone booth in Nagpur. It turned out to be Rupali. He asked her to wait for him, and alerted the local police. The Bhayander police who were working with Nashik investigators arrived at Nagpur with the girl's parents and took her back home. She was counselled by the police and family members. No complaint has been registered.
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