A man in Shanghai took his gambling addiction to a new level when he kidnapped his granddaughter in a bid to extort ransom money from his family to feed his addiction.

Identified only by his surname Yuan, the 65-year-old has since been jailed, according to the Shanghai Law and Rule Journal, which first reported the incident.

It did not specify when the kidnapping occurred, but in a story published on April 18, it said Yuan had just started serving his sentence. There was also no mention of how long he was imprisoned for.

On the day of the kidnapping, Yuan picked up his four-year-old granddaughter from her kindergarten. He took her out to eat and shop without her mother’s knowledge, the journal reported.

The girl’s mother, who is Yuan’s daughter, went to the school to fetch her child, but soon realised she was missing.

The woman later received a message from Yuan demanding 500,000 yuan (S$96,600), the journal said.

“Take out 500,000 yuan in three days, or you’ll never see your precious daughter again,” Yuan is said to have told his daughter, according to the journal’s report.

The woman then called Yuan to reason with him, but he did not budge.

She then reported the matter to the police, and Yuan was arrested.

He was charged with extortion.

When he appeared in court, Yuan protested against the charges and pleaded not guilty.

According to the report by the journal, he said the kidnapping should be considered a family dispute, not a crime.

Chinese courts can designate some crimes within families – including domestic violence – as family affairs.

Yuan had become desperate for the ransom money because he had run up a heavy gambling debt and had been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

His wife had also divorced him, the journal reported, adding that he had begun neglecting his business because of his gambling habits.

The story of the kidnapping has since been shared on Chinese social media by police departments, a municipal court and public prosecutors’ offices across the country.

Major Chinese news outlets have also carried the story, and people have reacted in horror to the news of Yuan’s actions.

“I’d cut off contact with him. No idea what he’d do after he gets out of prison,” wrote one user on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.