Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives on Thursday night managed to arrest a woman who plotted her abduction and tried to defraud her parents into paying ransom.

Clare Muthoni’s phone number is said to have sent her mother, Jane Wamuyu from Satellite in Nairobi’s Riruta area, a text on Tuesday telling her she had been abducted and a Sh30,000 ransom was needed for her to be released.

To convince her mother that the kidnapping was real, a photo of Muthoni with her hands and legs tied using a rope and a knife placed next to her was also sent.

“To complete the set, a kitchen knife was also displayed in the photos, sending Muthoni’s mother in a fit of panic,” DCI tweeted on Friday.

Muthoni’s mother was warned against alerting police or her daughter would allegedly be killed and, out of panic, she reported at Karen Police Station.

A probe by detectives from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau of the DCI and they traced the signals to Misiani village in Kangundo, Machakos County.

“After laying their ambush, anticipating to pounce on the kidnappers, they found out that there were no kidnappers other than Muthoni who was at a local Bar," DCI added.

Muthoni’s accomplice has been identified as her friend Diana Wanjiku, and the two were located at Website Bar after they both escaped from Nyeri County where they both lived.

The two were arrested and thrown into police cells to await their arraignment.