Robbery bid: Man barges into car, holds knife at 3-year-old’s neck in Ludhiana

After the Ludhiana woman raised the alarm, security guards and passersby rushed to the child’s aid and nabbed the accused.

A man barged into a woman’s car and held a knife to her three-year-old son’s throat outside a kindergarten on Sat Paul Mittal Road, which is popularly known as Malhar Road, on Monday.

A man barged into a woman’s car and held a knife to her three-year-old son’s throat outside a kindergarten on Sat Paul Mittal Road, which is popularly known as Malhar Road. (Getty Images/HT File)

The accused was formerly employed as a driver for a family whose ward also studies at the school. After the woman raised the alarm, security guards and passersby rushed to the child’s aid and nabbed the accused.

The father of the kindergartener said, “My wife went to pick up our son at around 12.15pm. She placed him on the front seat of the car. Before she could make it to the driver’s seat, the accused barged into the car from the back door and held the knife to our son’s throat.”

While eyewitnesses say he meant to rob the woman, the boy’s father has alleged a kidnapping bid. Division 5 station house officer Jasbir Singh said the accused said he needed money for the marriage of his sister-in-law (wife’s sister). “Preliminary probe suggests that the accused wanted to rob the woman, and had no intention of kidnapping her son.”

The accused’s scooter, which was parked near the school, has been impounded. An FIR was registered under Sections 379B (causing hurt, wrongful restraint or fear of hurt in committing snatching) and 511 (attempt to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.