Man attempts to abduct schoolgirl in Belagavi, claims he couldn’t find a bride

BELAGAVI: A 35-year-old man, who attempted to abduct a schoolgirl who was on her way to attend tuition class, has told the police that he committed the act as he was not finding a bride for himself. The accused was arrested within 24 hours after the girl’s parents lodged a complaint with the Tilakwadi police station.

The accused Gajanana Patil had tried to abduct a Class 9 student by luring her with chocolates while she was going for tuition. He made an unsuccessful attempt to carry the girl on his shoulder near Hindawadi post office in Belagavi when she was walking alone early on Tuesday morning.

The man attempted to carry away the girl in his bid to kidnap her.

The act of kidnapping was captured on the CCTV cameras. The girl can be seen struggling to free herself from the abductor’s grasp, slapping the man and flapping her legs, and screamed to get away from the accused. Local residents, who heard her screams, chased the abductor who then left the girl on the road and ran away, IGP Vikas Kumar said.

After locals started giving a chase, he left the girl on the road and escaped.

The girl’s parents lodged a complaint at the Tilakawadi police station. Following this, the Belagavi police formed a special team under the leadership of Udyambag Police Inspector Ramanna Biradar. After an intensive search operation, the accused was taken into custody on Thursday at Khadebazaar under the Belagavi Market police station in Maruti Nagar.

The accused is said to be a native of West Bengal and it was earlier suspected that he may have travelled towards Goa or Maharashtra. He revealed the motive for the kidnap attempt during interrogation by ACP Arunkumar Kolur of Khadebazaar division at the Udyambag police station.