AGRA, July 15 -- A man and his associate were arrested for allegedly staging the kidnapping of his 10-year-old daughter and fabricating a Rs.40-lakh ransom demand in a bid to raise money from relatives to repay his debts, police said here on Wednesday.

The girl returned home within hours of going missing, but police continued investigating the case and found that the kidnapping had been staged, officials said.

Assistant commissioner of police (Loha Mandi) Gaurav Singh said Jagdishpura police received information on July 10 that a 10-year-old girl had been kidnapped.

"Manish Agarwal, the girl's father, informed police that she had gone for dance classes but did not return. He later claimed to have received a ransom letter demanding Rs.4...