The residents gheraoed the police station and later withdrew their agitation following an assurance by senior police officials of the region. The morcha was staged after an attempt to abduct another minor girl was made this afternoon.

According to residents, around 1.00 p.m. this afternoon, a girl who was accompanied by her mother was on her way to school when an unidentified person dressed in a burkha with gloves in hand tried to snatch away the child from the mother. But the mother held the child and in the meantime some members of the public rushed to her rescue. On seeing the mob, the kidnapper escaped from the spot. However, the mother managed to snatch a glove from the kidnapper.

Two days ago, a 9-year-old school girl was kidnapped and raped. The girl, a student of standard IV at Feroz HighSchool near Jogeshwari was reported missing since the night of September 13 when she last left home to deliver a book to her classmate who lived in the neighbourhood at Jogeshwari (West). Her was found in a mutilated condition on the tracks between Khar Road and Santacruz railway stations on Wednesday.

On Friday, another kidnapping attempt was foiled when the kidnapper tried to abduct two minor girls aged 17 and 8. According to a senior police officer, the kidnapper is targeting only minor girls and added that the identity and sex of the maniac is still unknown.