Police arrest 5 youth for attempted abduction of school girl in Jharkhand

Sahibganj (Jharkhand), Oct 10 (PTI) The police on Friday arrested all five accused involved in the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old school girl in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand within 24 hours of the crime, an officer said.

A local court remanded the five, who are in their early 20s, to judicial custody.

The five men tried to abduct the class 10 student in an SUV in Rajmahal area when she was going to school in an autorickshaw along with her friends on Thursday morning. The attempt, however, was foiled by villagers.

Based on the complaint of the girl's father regarding the matter, an FIR was registered against the five named accused under various sections of the BNS and POCSO, Barharwa Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Nitin Khandelwal said.

"The five accused were nabbed while they were hiding in a house at Mazhar Tola Diara on the bank of the Ganga in the early hours of Friday. They are residents of two places under Rajmahal police station area," Khandelwal said.

The SUV used in the crime was identified and would be seized soon, he said.

It is alleged that the youths had also molested other schoolgirls in the autorickshaw when they resisted their attempt to abduct their friend.

As the girls raised an alarm, local people rushed to their rescue, forcing the youth to flee in the car.

The incident had taken place near a petrol pump between Lakhipur and Marsingha areas. PTI ANB NN