Filmi-style kidnapping of Class I student sends shock waves across the Capital

In what could be a straight lift from some Bollywood crime thriller, a school bus was stopped on a busy road by bike-borne assailants in broad daylight, the bus driver was shot at and a child abducted at gunpoint. The kidnapping of the child has left everyone including the police baffled, that too when the city is on high alert ahead of Republic Day!

The incident happened near Dilshad Garden in East Delhi at around 7.30 am. The abducted boy, a Class I student, has been identified as the Rehan Gupta of Vivekanand Public School in Anand Vihar.

Around 25 children were on the bus when the incident happened.

The assailants allegedly stopped the bus near Vivekanand School close to GTB Enclave and shot at the bus driver before fleeing with the boy. The driver has been rushed to the hospital, with a gunshot injury on his right foot. An FIR has been registered at GTB Enclave Police Station.

Delhi police have not ruled out the role of professional criminals. But they are also investigating other angles — could this have been the work of a close acquaintance who was not on good terms with the family ? But police sources added that the criminals had done a thorough reccee of the movement of the child and the abduction was well-planned.

According to Narender Pal Singh, the investigating officer in the case, "So far, no arrests have been made. But we are interrogating our suspects."

Currently, the police is interrogating a woman named Roopa, who worked as a caretaker in the bus. Her father, Deepak Kumar, said, "My daughter only works as caretaker in the bus, operated by a private contractor Mukesh Kumar. They have my daughter in the police station since morning."  

GTB Enclave police is also speaking to the bus conductor, the bus operator and school staff. 

The incident has left the parents aghast — is the capital no longer safe for children?