Local residents at Sadras in Kancheepuram district, saved three school girls of a government school from a gang, which tried to kidnap them in a share auto on Tuesday.
Around 4.30 pm, the students of the school at Sooradimangalam village, studying in class 10, were waiting at the bus stop to return to their homes in Lattur, when a share auto stopped near them.
The share auto driver and his associates urged the girls to get into his vehicle and the trio complied. However, after sometime, they noticed that the vehicle deviated from the route and moved towards a forest area. The girls began to cry for help, according to police.
After stopping the vehicle in the forest area, the share auto driver and his accomplice attempted to misbehave with the students. The cries of the girls drew the attention of the local farmers and others working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the area and they rushed to the spot. Catching the fleeing men and confiscating the vehicle, they handed over the duo to the Sadurangapattinam police.
The two men were identified as Saddam Hussain (22) and Riaz Ali (22), residents of Pudupattinam in Kalpakkam. They were booked under Sections 366-A (kidnap) and 511 of IPC and produced before the Thirukazhukundram court, which remanded them to judicial custody. They were later lodged at the Central prison in Puzhal.
Wanted Man Held
A history-sheeter, with 42 cases pending against him, has been arrested. Police said that Balaji alias Kakka Thoppu Balaji, an associate of criminals such as Napoleon and Pokkai Ravi, was wanted in the recent murder of Viswanathan in Pulianthope.
He was wanted in many cases of attempt to murder and kidnapping and had been booked under the Goondas Act eight times.