Alappuzha: Andhra native held for bid to kidnap five-yr-old boy

ALAPPUZHA: It’s hard to predict what would have happened to five-year-old Mohammed Azhar, 5, had he not bitten the hand of the stranger, who tried to carry away from near his house at Pallathurthy near Chandiroor in Alappuzha on Tuesday. Andhra native Nagendra, 60, has been arrested on a suspicion of attempted kidnap of a five-year old boy. It was around 2 pm when Mohammad Azhar, son of Chandiroor Chingampurakkal Akbar, was playing alone in his house courtyard. The assailant, who appeared from nowhere, pulled the child aside and lifted him. The panicked child bit him on the hand and cried aloud. On hearing the child’s shrieks, mother Sajana came running and raised an alarm.

The intruder suddenly dropped the child and tried to leave, as if nothing had happened. But neighbours chased and caught the interloper, all in a matter of a few minutes. Aroor additional sub-inspector KK Uthaman said the accused was taken into custody on the basis of the family’s complaint, which says Nagendra tried to kidnap the child while he was playing in the courtyard. Mr Uthaman said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had reached Kochi around February 15 and was staying in a place near Kaloor. His antecedents were being ascertained, he added. The police was trying to find out whether the assailant had intended to abduct the child or whether he was out of his senses.