Bus marshal rescues 4-yr-old girl from kidnapper, earns praise from CM

A bus marshal has saved a four-year-old girl from being kidnapped by a man in a cluster bus here, earning praise from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday.

The girl was rescued by bus marshal Arun Kumar (24) near Palam on Wednesday morning, Gahlot said, adding that the child was later united with her parents.

The good work by Kumar was appreciated by the chief minister who termed the bus marshal a pride of Delhi.

"My salute to bus marshal Arun Kumar. People like you are pride of Delhi. Our 13,000 bus marshals are providing security to lakhs of passengers. People are keeping faith in the safety inside the buses," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

Earlier, Gahlot also lauded Kumar as a "hero" and said the bus marshals deployed in all public buses were fulfilling their duty of passenger safety.

"Bus marshal Arun Kumar needs a big applause! Yesterday, displaying great presence of mind he saved 4 year old girl from being kidnapped by a man in bus on route 728. The young girl was later re united with her parents at Police Station Subroto Park, Delhi cantt. He is a Hero!" Gahlot tweeted.

According to police, a resident of Madhya Pardesh arrived at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station along with his wife and three minor daughters in a train on Wednesday at 6 am. After alighting, he realised that his elder daughter was missing.

He searched for his daughter and later, lodged a complaint after failing to trace her, they said.

During investigation, information was received from police post Subrato Park that the girl may have been spotted on a cluster bus near Dhaula Kuan with a man by a staff of the bus, the police said.

Police immediately reached the spot and found the missing girl. The man accompanying the girl on the bus was under arrest, a officer said.

During interrogation, accused Satish Kumar (22), who is a rag-picker, confessed that he had kidnapped her, the police officials added.

Arun Kumar said he grew suspicious about the man after he observed that the girl with him was crying.

With the help of the bus conductor, driver and other passengers, he overpowered the accused and took him to the police station, where he was arrested.

Gahlot said bus marshals like Kumar will be rewarded for their exemplary service.

In a bid to ensure passenger safety, particularly of women, the Delhi government has deployed marshals in around 5,500 Delhi Transport Corporation Corporation (DTC) and Cluster buses in the city.