The parents of Sutheep Sajjadev, a 38-year-old Sikh with a successful drapery business in Bangkok, informed police last Thursday that they suspected their son had been abducted.
Sutheep's abandoned Toyoto Lexus was found the next day with bloodstains, an unwound turban, pieces of a smashed mobile phone and a note saying: "You have caused trouble to our family, so we have taken your child."
Bangkok police, however, smelled something fishy about the alleged abduction when tests proved the bloodstains were from an animal, not a human.
The case was wrapped up Sunday night when a sheepish Sutheep returned home and later confessed to police that he had concocted the abduction ruse in an attempt to avoid an arranged marriage being forced upon him.
Police have been assigned to keep a close eye on Sutheep for fear he may harm himself. It was not immediately clear whether charges will be brought against the family for lodging a false complaint.
