In a bizarre incident, two 11-year-old boys in Karnataka’s Chitradurga fabricated their abduction in a bid to escape punishment for incomplete homework.

Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Ranjit Kumar Bandaru launched a probe after they received a call about two schoolboys narrowly escaping a kidnapping attempt. The boys who came home without schoolbags claimed that they were abducted by three kidnappers in a White Maruti Omni Van in Abbbinahole village near Imangala, reported Times Of India.

They further alleged that the kidnappers sprayed a mysterious liquid on their faces, making them unconscious.

The boys further claimed that upon regaining consciousness, they overheard the masked men saying in Hindi, “Yeh woh bacche nahi hain" (These are not the kids) and abandoned them by the roadside.

Fearing a criminal plot, Bandaru rushed to the scene and immediately deployed the teams to investigate the matter. The boys’ fearful demeanour and missing schoolbags initially lent credibility to their story, forcing officers to review CCTV footage and question residents, the report added.

Bandaru grew suspicious after speaking to the boys’ school teachers, who described them as mischievous and frequently neglectful of their homework. Bandaru said, “By then, officials from the various teams dispatched to trace the kidnappers and their vehicle reported that no residents had seen any Omni van in the area. Additionally, CCTV cameras in the location where the boys claimed to have been pushed into the vehicle showed no evidence of such an incident," as quoted by TOI.

Upon questioning the boys separately, the police found further contradictions. With the help of their teacher, the police reassured the boys of no punishment for telling the truth. The boys then admitted fabricating the kidnapping story to avoid reprimand for not doing their homework.

When asked how the boys came up with the idea, the officer attributed it to the influence of social media. “These boys had read extensively about kidnappings and other crime stories on social media. They used this knowledge to create a similar scenario to escape punishment," he said.

The police said that it would file a ‘B’ report, meaning closing the case as a false complaint.