The Belagavi Police have launched a manhunt for a man who is said to have made an attempt to abduct a young girl in Belagavi Old City on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old unidentified man followed the sixth standard student as she was going home from her tuition class near Mahaveer Garden in Hindwadi, the police said.
He lied to her that her mother has gone missing and that her family sent him to get her home quickly. He lifted her as if she were his daughter and started walking fast. Suspecting something was amiss, the girl started screaming and tried to escape from him by scratching his face, the police said.
A gardener who was working nearby saw this and ran towards them. The accused then dropped the child and ran away. By the time the gardener collected the girl, a small crowd had gathered. Some of them called the Tilakwadi Police.
Officers who came to the spot recorded the statement of the girl and onlookers. They collected CCTV footage from nearby shops. The police said that the accused had been stalking her for the last few days.
Inspector-General of Police and in-charge Police Commissioner Vikas Kumar Vikash said that a team has been constituted to trace the accused.
A case has been registered at the Tilakwadi Police Station.
