The last request tipped off the police to suspect that a relative was involved in the kidnapping.

'He got the idea from the film 'Apaharan' and faked Mumbai slang while making the ransom calls,' he added.

Police then tracked the suspects to Vishwas Nagar in east Delhi where the girl's aunt lives. Officials said that Sethi was heavily under debt.

'Sethi was interrogated thoroughly and he broke down, confessing to the crime of kidnapping the girl for money. The girl was rescued from a barber shop run by the other accused,' Dhaliwal said.

The police said in the 22 cases of kidnapping for ransom in the national capital this year, relatives, friends or business associates had been involved in 20 of the cases.