Man arrested for attempted kidnapping of minor girl in Greater Noida

The Greater Noida Police on Saturday arrested a 26-year-old man for his alleged involvement in an attempted kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl in Greater Noida’s Roza Jalalpur area. The incident took place on Friday morning when the girl was on her way to school for an examination, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shakti Mohan Awasthi said.

According to CCTV footage, the girl was seen talking with the suspect, identified as Anuj Kumar, for around three minutes before agreeing to ride his motorcycle. Police said a short time later the girl became suspicious, jumped off the bike and ran home. The victim, a class 6 student, was slightly injured. A complaint was then filed by his family on Friday at the Bisrakh police station, police said.

The complaint detailed the incident and said the victim had gone to school to take an exam when the suspect approached her. It further mentioned: “On the way (to the victim’s school), an unknown motorcyclist asked him the name of his school and the school principal. After asking her, he took her on his bike under the pretext of dropping her off at school. When she asked to come down, he refused. She then screamed, jumped off the bike and ran away.

“So far, we have not been able to ascertain the motive behind the attempted kidnapping after questioning the suspect,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

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

When police cordoned off the area, they found an abandoned motorcycle, believed to have been used in the attempted kidnapping. As the police closed in, Kumar allegedly opened fire. “In retaliation, the police returned fire, injuring the suspect in the leg,” Awasthi added.

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