To cover stock market losses, trader’s son staged kidnapping in Rajasthan's Jalore

JAIPUR: Jalore police on Saturday said that the son of a granite businessman who staged his own kidnapping did so to cover his losses in the stock market.
Rajendra Kumar, the son, had secretly applied for a bank loan and even asked his pregnant wife for Rs 5 lakh without disclosing the reason.
When his wife expressed her inability to provide the money, Kumar resorted to the desperate measure of staging his own kidnapping to extort money from his father.
The kidnapping had garnered attention due to the unusual demand for the granite polishing formula along with Rs 6 lakh in the ransom message. This request raised suspicions as only someone familiar with the business would make such a demand.
This caused the police to focus their investigation on Rajendra’s background and financial transactions.
On June 17, Kumar left his home in Jalore on his bike, claiming to go to the factory. He then switched off his phone and travelled to Sirohi.
From there, he sent a threatening WhatsApp message to his father, Ratlallal Lohar demanding a ransom of Rs 6 lakh for release.
Ratlallal immediately reported the incident to the police, and SP Gyanchandra Yadav formed 10 teams, involving 22 policemen, to investigate the case and locate Rajendra.
The investigation revealed that Rajendra had lost Rs 10.50 lakh in the stock market over the past six months, a fact unknown to his father and wife.
This clue changed the direction of the investigation. He took a bank loan of 4 lakh and was falling short of Rs 6 lakh. Driven by desperation, he orchestrated his own kidnapping.