Patna SSP Alok Kumar at the news meet after Anuvansham was recovered. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Feb. 17: Under a lot of debt and being pressured to cough up the money, 15-year-old Anuvansham hit upon a plan which, he thought, would relieve him from all worries.

Knowing that his mother, Mala Kumari, had jewellery worth Rs 6 lakh with her, he, along with three of his friends, planned a self-kidnapping drama. The idea was to seek from his mother a ransom of Rs 6 lakh.

Today, however, the police got the better of the plan and arrested Anuvansham and three of his accomplices from Mehrama village at Jamalpur in Munger district.

Anuvansham, a student of a city school, went missing on February 15 from his house at Chapra Colony in Jakkanpur. His mother lodged a missing diary with the Jakkanpur police station.

“The boy went missing around 7pm and the missing diary was registered the same evening. A special team was immediately formed under City SP Shivdeep Lande. The SHOs of the Patrakar Nagar, Kankerbagh and Jakkanpur, the special cell and DSP (Sadar) started the investigations in a bid to recover the boy,” senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar said. Apart from Anuvansham, the three more arrested have been identified as Dilip Kumar Yadav (26), Saurabh Kumar (23) alias Baba and Ritik (25).

“The boy was in wrong company. He had befriended people who were much elder to him. He is not a regular to school as well and had a lot of money to pay. Teenagers falling into the wrong company are always dangerous. He had turned into a spendthrift and was under pressure to repay. Dilip was a neighbour of Anuvansham and he told him about the plan. Dilip then contacted Saurabh, his cousin, who agreed to be a part of it. Saurabh has got a criminal history and was a member of the Pintu Singh gang. Ritik, a friend of both Dilip and Saurabh, also joined the group,” the SSP said.

Police sources said the boy splurged money on his girlfriends. “He knew that his mother had jewellery with her which amounted to Rs 6 lakh. Dilip is a native of Mehrama and the three left for the village. Once there, they began to call up the mother for a ransom of Rs 6 lakh on Wednesday evening. The son called his mother saying his life was in danger and the money needed to be paid up. The police team started to track the mobile number and finally tracked them to the same village. The team later arrested them,” the SSP added.

Anuvansham’s father, Amerendra Kumar Shahi, is a farmer and lives in Harnaut in Nalanda district. His mother used to stay in her father’s home in Chapra Colony here. The police had earlier detained six men and were questioning them.

“The SIM card used to make the ransom calls and two mobile phones have been recovered,” the SSP added.