Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): In a shocking turn of events, the Shamgarh police in Mandsaur district booked a woman and her father-in-law for orchestrating a fake kidnapping to settle a score with a rival family.
The incident, which baffled the police for 11 days, took a turn when the elderly man was discovered in the custody of the woman's brother.
The incident unfolded 12 days ago when Nainibai, a resident of Rundi village, accompanied by her brother Kapil, filed a report at the Shamgarh police station, accusing the Rathore family of the same village of kidnapping her father-in-law, Surajmal Garasiya, 62, following an assault at their home. The police promptly registered a case under sections 294, 323, 365, 336, 341, and 34 of IPC and initiated an investigation.

Given the seriousness of the alleged kidnapping, Mandsaur SP Anurag Sujania mobilised multiple police teams led by Sitamau SDOP Nikita Singh and Shamgarh police station in-charge Uday Singh Alawa to search for Surajmal. The police employed both technical methods and their informer network in the effort.
The breakthrough came on June 16 when the police found Surajmal hiding at the home of Nainibai's brother Kapil in Odhwa. Upon questioning, Surajmal initially tried to mislead the authorities. However, under psychological interrogation, he confessed that the kidnapping was a fabrication. The plan was to exert pressure on the Rathore family through the social panchayat by faking the abduction.

The SP confirmed that the Rathore family was falsely accused of manipulating community dynamics. Following the revelation, the police have also named Kapil's associates, Arjun Dayama, Dilip alias Madan Dayama, and Vishnu Meghwal, as co-conspirators.