A man who kidnapped himself in the Shijingshan District and extorted 200,000 yuan (US$24,200) from his girlfriend said he had only been testing her feelings for him after being arrested by police, reports Beijing Times.

On July 27, Wang received a short message asking her to prepare a large sum of money to pay ransom for her boyfriend, Mu Qingsong. Wang, who was worried because she hadn't seen Mu for a while, tried to raise the money together with her family.

When she received a second message telling her that she would soon see only Mu's hands and feet if she did not come up with the money immediately, Wang called police.

Officers later discovered that Mu was his own kidnapper. He was sentenced to three years in prison by the Shijingshan District People's Court on Tuesday.

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