Chandigarh,June, 20
What began as a suspected kidnapping in Gujarat’s Surat ended with police exposing an alleged self-orchestrated ransom plot by a 36-year-old accountant who was trying to recover heavy losses from stock-market options trading. According to police, Jignesh Talaviya, a resident of the Mota Varachha area, went missing on June 12, prompting his wife to file a complaint at Utran Police Station.
Soon after, the family received a message claiming that Talaviya had been kidnapped. The sender demanded a ransom of 50 lakh threatening the family not to inform police or freeze any bank accounts, threatening fatal consequences.
Treating the case as a possible abduction, police launched a large-scale investigation using CCTV footage, technical survelliance and field intelligence.
As Talaviya’s location kept changing, officers followed multiple leads, including one that took them to Madhya Pardesh.
After a multi-day investigation, a video was sent to the investigators where he was tied up, accompanied by a fresh threat that his body would be returned if the ransom was not paid. However, the police eventually concluded that the video had been recorded in Godhra, Gujarat.
On June 15, police traced Talaviya to Shiv Hotel in Godhra’s Panchmahal district. During questioning, Talaviya allegedly admits that he had fabricated the kidnapping. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Alok Kumar Jhala, the investigation revealed that Talaviya had incurred losses of around Rs 50-60 lakh while trading in stock market. Police believed that the fake kidnapping was an attempt to obtain the money from family.
Later, the man was arrested under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 212, 217 and 233 for alleged hoax and wasting governmental resources.
