School boy stages kidnap drama to avoid exams in Chennai

CHENNAI: A 12-year-old boy who had earlier alleged that he was kidnapped by a gang did so to escape from examinations in school, police investigations have revealed.

The boy, Nikhil (name changed), was a Class 7 student at a private school in Kilpauk and resided with his family in Kondithope. On Thursday, the boy told his family members that he was kidnapped by unidentified persons in an auto and he managed to escape by getting off the vehicle at a traffic signal.

Subsequently, the family members filed a police complaint. When he was interrogated to explain the events which led to the ‘kidnap’ and if he remembered the identity of his kidnappers, he gave contradictory answers after which police got suspicious. Police checked CCTV footage in the traffic signal where he claimed to have escaped and found that he was lying.

Investigations revealed that he had asked for his parents to allow him to take leave for school so that he need not appear for exams. Since they denied, he staged a kidnap drama, police said. He was let off with a warning and was given counseling.