Two minor tribal school students, who were allegedly being abducted by a suspicious person in the Badbil-Puri Express train, were rescued by fellow passengers and handed over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) here. The RPF personnel in turn, remitted the case to Government Railway Police (GRP), when the train arrived here on Friday evening.
“We have arrested the kidnapper, one Koshadhar Soren of Keonjhar and have already got in touch with the parents of both the students, who also belong to Badbil area of Keonjhar district,” informed GRP Inspector JR Samantray, adding that the children (both aged 10 years) are now under the custody of the District Child Protection Officer.
Soren, who apparently works as a labour contractor in a public sector unit at Paradip, lured the two Class-V students of a residential school at Joda telling that he will make arrangements for them to fly in a helicopter. “Unable to resist the temptation to fly in a helicopter, the students accompanied Soren,” Samantray said.
But in the train when some passengers noticed that the boys were in a state of sedate and the man accompanying them is unperturbed, suspecting foul play, they first brought this to the notice of TTE, who in turn alerted the RPF personnel travelling in the train, Mohapatra added. Police recovered several I-cards from Soren’s possession.