A 40-year-old man from Palghar district in Maharashtra has been booked for cooking up a story of her daughter's kidnapping after a quarrel with his wife, police said on Sunday.
The accused, Dilip Shinde, a resident of Manor taluka, informed the police on June 26 that while he was walking in Tandulwadi Ghat area, some unidentified persons kidnapped his six-year-old daughter and fled in a car, police spokesman Hemant Katkar said.
The police then registered a case under Indian Penal Code Section 363 (kidnapping).
However, when the police failed to trace the girl, they called the complainant again and while questioning him, suspected something amiss, Katkar said.
During further probe in the case, the police found that the child was safe and in the custody of her mother in Bhiwandi town of neighbouring Thane district, he said.
The police later came to know that the accused cooked up the 'kidnap' story to settle scores with his wife, who along with the child went to stay at her parents' house after a fight with him, the official said.
The accused was on Saturday booked under relevant Indian Penal Code provisions for furnishing false information, he added.
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