Patna: The eight-year-old daughter of a businessman was kidnapped in broad daylight from a commercial hub in Purnea while she was returning home from school on Monday afternoon, prompting a flash strike by traders, but police recovered her within seven hours, much to the relief of the family and the administration.

"We have recovered the girl from the border area between Purnea and Kishanganj districts along the national highway. Four persons with arms and ammunition have also been arrested. Two automobiles used in the crime have been seized," Purnea superintendent of police Vishal Sharma said.

The abduction had yet again put a question mark on law and order, but the police action that led to her recovery around 9pm from neighbouring Kishanganj came as a relief for the administration.

Sources in the police gave credit to Purnea SP Sharma, who had sprung blockades at various places in the district and had dispatched teams to Kishanganj and Katihar.

Identified as Navya, the child is a student of the upscale Bright Career School in Purnea, around 320km northeast of Patna.

She was barely 25 metres from her home located near Sonauli Chowk in the Gulab Bagh commercial hub, when a car screeched to a halt close to her just after she had alighted from her school bus around 2.15pm.

A couple of persons sitting inside grabbed her and sped away, sending shockwaves through the densely populated area which sees movement of people from morning to night.

Navya's father Surendra Binakiya is a big wholesale procurer and trader dealing in rice, edible oil and other grocery items. Within minutes of the abduction, Gulab Bagh, one of the largest wholesale markets in eastern India, was shut down by the protesting traders, who demanded immediate recovery of the girl.

The kidnapping seemed to be a well planned one done after extensive recce because CCTV grabs from the area showed a white car trailing the school bus (in which Navya was travelling) for quite some distance.