Assailants kidnap 5-yr-old from school bus

A five-year-old nursery student was kidnapped by two bike-borne assailants, who climbed the school van and shot at the driver on Thursday, a day ahead of Republic day when the national capital is on high alert. 

The incident took place at around 7:45 am, when the school bus, having 14 students and a female caretaker on board, stopped to pick up a student in east Delhi. 

The duo, with their faces obscured by helmets, climbed the bus and held a gun to the caretaker’s head and asked her about the child. They also threatened to shoot if anybody raised an alarm,” one of the students onboard told DNA.

“One of them, then, rushed to the child, who was sitting on the last seat with his sister. He grabbed the child even as the sister, who is in class 3, tried hard to save him. He kept on shouting but the kidnappers took him away on their bike,” the student said, adding one of them shot the driver on his leg when the latter tried to stop them. 

The students were then shifted to another bus and taken to the school. 

Police have registered an FIR in the matter and investigation is on. 

However, no ransom call was received by the time this report was filed. “An FIR has been registered and several specialised units of the Delhi police are probing the matter,” a senior police officer said.

“The police is also probing the role of an insider as the kidnappers were aware of the routine of the kid. Also, why have they kidnapped only the boy and left behind the girl,” the officer added.

Meanwhile, outside the five-year-old’s house, hundreds of people gathered to express their shock and anger over the incident.

“The incident is so shocking. It could be anybody’s child. What if my son doesn’t come back home tomorrow. We demand immediate action in this matter,” said a neighbour. 

It took police more than two hours to disperse the crowd.