Three other young men, ages 16, 18 and 20 years old, continued to be detained yesterday and the mother of one told Stabroek News that her son has already been charged with conspiracy and extortion.

The "victim" and his 16-year-old accomplice are both Sixth Form students of Saint Stanislaus College, and together with two other friends, staged the kidnapping and demanded $1M ransom.

However, after the police "rescued" the lad from a house on the Lamaha railway embankment Wednesday, they found out that the 17-year-old "victim" was part of the plan which led to the arrests of 13 persons that day.

A lawyer retained by the father of the "kidnapped" teen told Stabroek News last night that the boy's father took him into custody yesterday because "the police must know the truth" that the episode was a hoax. The trauma began for the Trinidadian-born father on Tuesday after he received news that his son was kidnapped. The man was even more shocked after learning that his son was the mastermind.

However, Mantacomaria Khan, mother of the 16-year-old detainee, told this newspaper last night that she was concerned that the police insist on keeping her son at the Ruimveldt Police Station. The boy and two others, with the exception of the "victim", were in police custody since Wednesday.

The group's plan began to unravel at about 1 p.m. Wednesday after ranks intercepted two of the young men who had turned up at the drop off point to retrieve a sum of money, which formed part of the ransom demand. Those persons were taken into custody and later led police to the house where they found the "kidnapped" teen hiding under a bed.