A 30-year-old man, Dayanand Kumar Sharma, who recently came to Mumbai from Bihar, kidnapped an eight-year-old girl from the Mira Bhayandar area. He lured her with toys outside the school. Fortunately, an alert assistant police inspector named Valbhim Nanavare, in civil uniform and en route to Pune on official duty on the Sinhagad Express train, spotted the girl, gained her trust, and successfully rescued her.

A police officer said the incident occurred on Saturday when Nanavare saw the girl in school uniform standing next to a man. Nanavare suspected something amiss as the man was repeatedly giving her toys to keep her happy. “Nanavare noticed the accused Sharma was also force-feeding the girl who kept refusing it. Also, the girl was speaking Marathi while Sharma was speaking in Hindi. Nanavare told the girl to sit in his seat and then inquired about her mother. The girl said her mother was at home. Nanavare then asked the girl if the man travelling with her was her father, to which she replied yes," said a police officer.