Saudi Gazette report



BAHA — Three teenagers who claimed they had been attacked by an Ethiopian gang were arrested by Al-Baha police after it was discovered they had made up the story, Al-Madinah daily reported.



Police said they received a frantic phone call from the teenagers who pleaded to be saved from the Ethiopian kidnappers.



Officers were immediately dispatched to the scene and found two young men, 18 and 17, near a group of deserted houses in the city.



They found the third one, 17, inside an abandoned house with his hands and feet bound.



The latter claimed that a group of Ethiopian men had beaten and tied him up before fleeing the scene.



Officers searched adjacent neighborhoods for the kidnappers but were unable to find them.



After combing the place where the third teenager was found, officers did not find any signs that the young man had been assaulted, let alone kidnapped.



After lengthy investigations, the young men admitted to planning the whole thing and tying up the third teenager.



Police referred two of them to the Social Center for Juveniles while the third one was referred to the Bureau of Investigations and Public Prosecution.