A 20-year-old man from Maharashtra’s Palghar district allegedly cooked up his own kidnapping story to extract money from his father, police said on Sunday.

The Valiv police here received a complaint from a resident of Fatherwadi area in Vasai that his son had gone out of the house on December 7 but did not return.

The police registered a missing case on December 8.

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While they were conducting a probe into it, the complainant received a call from his son stating that three persons had kidnapped him, kept him in captivity, and were demanding a ransom of Rs 30,000, failing which they would kill him, an official said.

The son also sent a QR code to his father for the payment.

Four police teams were then formed and they searched for the man in Vasai, Virar, Nallasopara and other places, the official said.

After working on various leads, the man was traced to Vasai phata on Saturday.

When the police enquired with him, they came to know that he wanted money from his father which the latter was not ready to give. Hence, he concocted the kidnap drama to extract money from his father, the official said.

The police have detained the 20-year-old man and further probe is on into the matter, he added.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued notices to Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Akshay Kumar in connection with their endorsement of a gutka brand, the Centre informed the Allahabad High Court on Saturday.

The central government was responding to a contempt petition filed by Advocate Motilal Yadav.

In his petition, Yadav raised concerns about the participation of celebrities, especially those who won the Padma awards, in advertisements or endorsements of certain products or items that are harmful to public health at large.

The Allahabad High Court issued notices to the Cabinet Secretary, Chief Commissioner, and CCPA in August this year in a plea seeking contempt action for non-compliance with its September 2022 order.

Responding to this, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey informed the HC bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan that show cause notices were issued to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Akshay Kumar on October 20 this year.

The Deputy Solicitor General also mentioned that Amitabh Bachchan sent a legal notice to a tobacco company that showed an advert featuring him even though he already cancelled his contract. Following this, the court listed the matter for May 2024.

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In September last year, the court asked the petitioner to approach the Government of India. Advocate Yadav not only raised concerns over certain Padma awardees endorsing ads for products that are harmful to public health. He also said that guidelines should be issued for dis-conferment of the Padma awards in case any awardee is found conducting himself inappropriately.

This petition named several Bollywood actors including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Shah Rukh Khan, and Saif Ali Khan. It also named the managing directors of Gutka companies Vimal, Kamla Pasand, and Pan Bahar. The petitioner also sought direction from the CCPA to take action against these Padma awardees and impose a penalty on them.

The petition stated that such individuals should be directed to deposit the amount earned from such endorsements and an equal amount in the Government of India relief fund. Taking note of these issues, the court directed the petitioner to approach the Government of India and draw its attention to the “alleged misconduct”.

They, however, are not the only celebs who have landed in trouble for their adverts. Actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Yami Gautam, Rashmika Mandanna, and Vicky Kaushal have faced hot waters for some of their endorsements.

A Pakistani woman on Tuesday crossed over to India from the Wagah-Attari International Border to marry a Kolkata resident with whom her marriage has been fixed in January next year.

Karachi resident Javeria Khanum crossed over into the Indian side from Attari in Amritsar district where she was welcomed by her fiance Sameer Khan and some members of his family to the beats of ‘dhol’.

Khanum has been granted a 45-day visa after two previous visa rejections and the Covid pandemic stalled their plans for around five years. The couple, in a brief interaction with reporters at Attari, said the marriage will be solemnised in January next year.

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“I have been granted a 45-day visa. I am very happy to be here. Just on arrival, I am already getting so much love here. In the first week of January the marriage will be solemnised,” she said. She had tried to get a visa on two occasions, but got lucky the third time. “It is a happy ending and a happy beginning,” she said, expressing her happiness at being able to travel to India to get married.

Everyone back home was very happy. I can’t believe I have got the visa after five years, she added. Sharing how the couple got in touch, Khan said he expressed interest in marrying Khanum after seeing her photo on his mother’s phone.

“This started in May 2018. I had come home from Germany where I was studying. I saw her photo on my mother’s phone and expressed my interest. I told my mother that I want to get married to Javeria,” he said.