PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A little boy in Malaysia cooked up a tall tale of being kidnapped - all because he wanted to avoid being scolded by his father.

The 11-year-old boy spiced up the story by telling his parents that he "escaped" after biting one of his "kidnappers".

Police said the boy had left his home in Kampung Endah, Kuala Langat in Selangor at 9pm on Monday (Jan 30), supposedly to see his friends, and when he failed to return, villagers conducted a search.

The boy returned home at about 1am on Tuesday, looking tired and in tattered pants.

After his worried parents, who work as teachers, asked him about what happened, the boy told them he was kidnapped by three masked men and escaped after he bit one of them.

A police report was made immediately, but the investigations on the supposed kidnapping did not get far.

According to Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Fadzil Ahmat, the boy confessed to fabricating his story when he was called to the police station for a follow-up enquiry.

"The boy said he was afraid of being scolded by his father for coming back late. That's why he made up the story about the kidnapping," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Fadzil urged the public not to speculate further on the case, saying there were no criminal elements involved.