Man held for attempted abduction of minor girl in Greater Noida

According to CCTV footage, the girl was seen speaking with the suspect for about three minutes before accepting a ride on his motorcycle

The Greater Noida police on Saturday arrested a 26-year-old man, for his alleged involvement in an attempted abduction of a 12-year-old girl in the Roza Jalalpur area in Greater Noida. The incident took place on Friday morning while the girl was on her way to school for an examination, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Shakti Mohan Awasthi said.

The complaint detailed the incident and said that the victim had left for school to take an exam, when the suspect approached her. (File Photo)

According to CCTV footage, the girl was seen speaking with the suspect, identified as Anuj Kumar, for about three minutes before accepting a ride on his motorcycle. The police said that after a short while, the girl grew suspicious, jumped off the bike, and ran home. The victim, who is a Class 6 student, sustained minor injuries. A complaint was then filed by her family on Friday at Bisrakh police station, police said.

The complaint detailed the incident and said that the victim had left for school to take an exam, when the suspect approached her. It further mentioned, “On the way (to the victim’s school) an unknown biker asked the name of her school and about the school principal. After asking, he took her on his bike under the guise of dropping her at the school. When she asked to get down, he refused. She then shouted, jumped off the bike, and ran away.”

“As of now, we could not ascertain the motive behind the attempted abduction from the questioning of the suspect,” an officer said on condition of anonymity.

Kumar, a resident of Patwari and originally from Muradnagar in Ghaziabad, was later identified as the suspect, police said. Investigators were able to track him down on Saturday morning after receiving a tip-off about his location at a construction site near Roza Jalalpur, they added.

When the police cordoned off the area, they found an abandoned motorcycle, believed to have been used in the attempted abduction. As the police closed in, Kumar reportedly opened fire. “In retaliatory response, the police fired back, injuring the suspect in the leg,” Awasthi added.

Police recovered a .315 bore illegal pistol, an empty cartridge, and a live cartridge from the scene, further establishing the suspect’s criminal intent, investigators said. Kumar was taken to a hospital for treatment, and a case under sections 137 (kidnapping) and 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Arms Act, 1959 was filed against him, police said.