Cuttack: Two minor tribal boys, who were allegedly being abducted in a train by a man on the pretext of giving them chopper-ride, were rescued by the alert fellow passengers who caught the kidnapper and informed RPF here on Friday.
The passengers handed over the kidnapper and the two school students to RPF personnel who in turn remitted the case to Government Railway Police (GRP) when the Badbil-Puri Express train arrived at Cuttack city this 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," GRP Inspector Jyoti Ranjan Samantray said, adding that the minor children (both aged 10 years) are now under the custody of District Child Protection Officer.
GRP sources said Soren, who works as a labour contractor in a public sector unit at Paradip, allegedly lured the two class V students of a residential school in 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 sedated state and the man accompanying them appeared unconcerned, they suspected foul play and first brought this to the notice of TTE, who in turn alerted the RPF personnel travelling in the train, Mohapatra added.
Police have recovered several I-cards from Soren's possession.