Balangir: Police on Thursday rescued a "missing man" from Borpadar village in Bijepur area of Kalahandi district by tracking his mobile phone.

The police said Kabiraj Bag, 26, had been hiding in the forest for the past one week and enacting the drama of his own abduction.

Kabiraj had reportedly told his family that he was going to Lathor to buy some cotton. He had accordingly taken Rs 1.50 lakh in cash before leaving on January 26. His family members found his motorcycle lying abandoned on a village roadside. Later, they also found his shoes lying at College Chowk in Lathor while looking for him. Kabiraj's uncle Surendra had then lodged a missing complaint.

"He wanted to go a relative's place in Kalahandi to do some business about which he didn't want to tell his family. To make the drama look real, he had abandoned his bike and his shoes that scared his family and villagers," said inspector in charge of Lathor police station Satyananda Patra..