UP: Woman arrested for concocting story of son's abduction to extort money

Meerut (UP), Nov 21 (PTI) Police arrested a woman and her accomplice from Sardhana area here on Friday after they allegedly fabricated a story about the kidnapping of her 10-year-old son and attempted to extort money, police said.

The child was recovered from Noida on Thursday night, they added.

The accused have been identified as Sonia, a resident of Dabthua village, and her accomplice Sanjay, a resident of Badalpur police station area in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

According to the police, Sonia filed a complaint on November 20 that her son had been kidnapped by four youths -- Mohit and Rohit (both brothers), Satendra alias Sahendri, and Subhash.

The police registered a case under section 140(1) (abduction) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and began an investigation by forming three teams.

During the investigation, police found several inconsistencies in Sonia's complaint. The CCTV cameras installed in Sonia's house were turned off before the incident, police said.

Evidence of frequent contact with some suspicious numbers was found on her mobile phone.

Phone surveillance revealed that the child was, in fact, in Noida, and not in the village at the time of the incident, they added.

Based on this, the child was recovered from Noida.

The police said Sonia had a dispute with her first husband and had been living in Ghaziabad for 10-11 years, leaving the children at her parents' home in Dabthua, Meerut.

About three years ago, she returned to her village and began pressuring her neighbour, Mohit, to marry her.

When Mohit turned her down, she demanded Rs 1 lakh from him. When he refused, Sonia filed a case against Mohit on October 31, 2025 and later changed her statement in court after receiving the money.

According to the police, when Mohit and his family refused to provide money any further, Sonia, along with her acquaintance Sanjay, sent her son to Noida and filed a new case against the four men, falsely accusing them of kidnapping, to exert pressure on them.

Police have arrested both accused. Based on a complaint filed by Mohit's mother, a case has been registered against Sonia and Sanjay for extortion and conspiracy. PTI COR NAV ARB ARB