RAUTAHAT: A man in Rautahat, who staged his own abduction to avoid paying loan, has landed in police net.

After being badly in debt, Chhabilal Raut Kurmi, 44, of Harshaha, Sakhuwa Dhamaura VDC-7, in the district thought faking abduction could save him from paying the money he owed to villagers and shopkeepers. But his arrest proved how wrong he was.

As part of his plan, Kurmi telephoned his elder brother to tell him that he had been kidnapped and was being tortured. Kurmi told his brother that the kidnappers were seeking Rs 2 million in ransom. Family members then approached the police.

Kurmi had told his kin that Birendra Raut, a hardware shop owner at Sukdev Chowk had abducted him and he was kept at Chhanaki area in Sarlahi. Police teams from Area Police Office Garuda, Chandranigahapur and District Police Office were dispatched in civvies. After searching for Kurmi in neighbouring districts Bara and Sarlahi, police failed to locate him.

Later he was arrested from a squatters’ settlement in Chandrapur where he was hiding.

At a press conference today, District Police Office made public Kurmi. DSP Sudhirraj Shahi said that a case would be filed against Kurmi for faking his own kidnapping. Kurmi has admitted that he had faked his own abduction to avoid paying loan, said DSP Shahi.