New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) Delhi Police has traced a 26-year-old man who faked his own kidnapping to extort money from his family, officials said on Friday.

Pankaj Mandal was reported missing on February 17 after his sister in West Bengal received some distressing photos and videos via social media demanding ransom money for his release.

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"Police launched a probe after lodging a missing person complaint at the Kishangarh police station. The photos and text sent to Mandal's sister in West Bengal, his native place, were found to be doubtful," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest), Surendra Choudhary, said.

"A closer analysis of the photos made the police suspicious that Mandal was faking his own kidnapping to extort money from his family. We scanned CCTV footage from Mandal's likely places of visit and launched a man hunt," the DCP said.

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"After sustained efforts, police traced and apprehended Mandal from the Kashmiri Gate area," Choudhary said.

During questioning, Mandal confessed that he staged his own kidnapping by cooking a false narrative in order to extort money from his family, the officer said, adding that police have reunited Mandal with his family members after his grilling.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)