Delhi: Alert driver saves two girls from kidnapper in Vivek Vihar

NEW DELHI: Had it not been for the presence of mind of an e-rickshaw driver, two girls aged 7 and 4 years could well have lived the life of beggars on the streets.
On Friday, an e-rickshaw driver in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar noticed the two minors in the company of an older man who had boarded his rickshaw. Sensing the discomfort of the kids, the 20-year-old e-rickshaw driver asked the man how he was related to the girls.When the latter could not provide a satisfactory reply, the driver contacted the cops. The two girls were rescued and the 40-year-old man, later identified as Sanjay, was arrested.
Bharamdutt Rajput, the e-rickshaw driver, said Sanjay and the two girls boarded his e-rickshaw at Balaji temple in Vivek Vihar and was headed for Chintamani Chowk.
Speaking to TOI, Rajput said, "I did what I thought was right. Those who ride in my rickshaw are my responsibility. I am usually alert about passengers and even tell them to sit properly so that their belongings are not snatched during the trip."
R Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara), felicitated Rajput, commending him for his alertness, which thwarted a kidnapping.
The officer also said, "During interrogation, Sanjay confessed to kidnapping the girls with the intention to push them into begging alms to pay for his drug addiction. The girls are safe and have been handed over to their parents, who work at a construction site.
A case under the Indian Penal Code's Section 363A (kidnapping or maiming a minor for purposes of begging) has been registered at Vivek Vihar police station. The e-rickshaw driver showed exemplary courage and presence of mind by saving the lives of two little girls and set an example of how the public can be the eyes and ears of Delhi Police and help us curb crime."
Rajput said the suspected kidnapper was standing with the kids near a temple. He asked the girls to get into the e-rickshaw, but Sanjay was carrying two polybags filled with garbage and sat in the rickshaw only after walking for around 50 metres.
"This was the first thing that made my antennae tingle," said Rajput.
"Later, I heard the two girls saying, 'Uncle, hamein khaana khila kar, ghar chhod dena (Drop us home after giving us food)'. I thought something was fishy and asked the girls if they knew the man and they answered they didn't."
By this time, they had reached Chintamani Chowk and he turned around and confronted Sanjay, asking him whose children the girls were.
"He did not respond and told me to keep the fare and let them disembark there. I saw a traffic cop and alerted him," said the e-rickshaw driver. "I told the children not to go with the man and to keep sitting in the rickshaw. Policemen came and took the three with them. I don't ever want anything wrong to happen with anyone who rides on my rickshaw. If I feel there is something wrong, there is no way will I back out of resolving the issue."
Rajput is from Farrukhabad in UP and lives with friends in Jhilmil. He has been driving an e-rickshaw for the last three years.