Report: Soldier arrested for faking kidnapping of Palestinian, demanding ransom
Military Police guard said to be suspected of contacting relatives of an illegal entrant from West Bank held in IDF custody with false claim of abduction
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An IDF soldier from the Military Police has been arrested on suspicion of fabricating the kidnapping of a Palestinian and demanding a ransom for his release, Army Radio reported Sunday.
According to the report, the Palestinian had been arrested while attempting to enter Israel illegally from the West Bank, and he was taken to an army detention facility.
At the detention facility, a Military Police guard photographed the Palestinian detainee and sent the footage to his family, claiming that he had kidnapped him, the report said.
Army Radio said the soldier demanded that the family of the Palestinian send him money in exchange for the release of their son.
According to the report, the Palestinian’s family contacted the police. Israeli security bodies initially believed the incident to be a matter of Jewish terrorism, but it later emerged that the Palestinian’s phone was located at an IDF detention facility.
The soldier involved in the case served in the Military Police — the IDF body that normally investigates soldiers — so the case will be handled by the military’s Internal Investigations Unit.
The IDF confirmed the incident, saying an investigation has been launched, but added that it “will not elaborate on the details of the investigation while it is ongoing.”
The Times of Israel Community.