Minor BTS fans stage their kidnapping to fulfil dream of travelling to South Korea and meeting group members

Three minor girls from Maharashtra allegedly staged their own kidnapping in a bid to earn money and visit South Korea to meet the hugely popular BTS pop band members, police said on Monday. The girls, one 11 years old and two aged 13, hail from Dharashiv district in the state. (Also Read | BTS’ Taehyung, SEVENTEEN’s Joshua’s birthday content to award events: What all is cancelled after Muan plane crash)

They had planned to go to Pune to earn money which they needed to travel to South Korea and meet their favourite K-pop band members, an official from Omerga police station said. On December 27, the Dharashiv police received a call on their helpline number from a person claiming three girls were forcibly taken away in a school van from Omerga taluka in the district, he said.

The police swung into action and found the number belonged to a woman travelling on a state transport bus from Omerga to Pune. The official said they tracked the bus while it was passing through the Mohol area in the state’s Solapur district.

The Omerga police got in touch with their counterparts in Mohol as well as a woman who runs a shop at the Mohol bus stand, he said. The three girls were subsequently taken down from the bus with the woman’s help and brought to a local police station.

The official said that the Omerga police team, along with the minor’s parents, later reached there. The next day, the police enquired with the girls, who told them that they had a plan to go to Pune, work there and earn money which they needed to go to South Korea and meet their favourite members of the BTS pop band, the official said.

BTS members consist of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, Kim Taehyung (V) and Jungkook. Jin and J-Hope were discharged from the military earlier this year. RM, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook will complete their service next year.