School students and teachers stage a protest against the kidnap of Prashant Ranjan on the Mahabodhi Mahavihara premises in Bodhgaya on Tuesday. Picture by Suman

More than 2,000 school students took out a silent procession in protest against the kidnap of a fellow pupil in Bodhgaya last week.

Two motorbike-borne criminals kidnapped Prashant Ranjan, a Class IV student of Pre-Manav Bharati School, from Pachchhatti Mohulla on Saturday morning. A missing person case was lodged that day. It was converted into an abduction case on Sunday.

Pankaj lived with his mother, Chanchala, at Pachchhatti Mohulla in the northern part of the town. The family of the nine-year-old student has not received any ransom call yet.

On Tuesday, Prashant’s fellow students marched from the red pedestal at the north gate of Mahabodhi Mahavihara to the temple premises with some teachers. They prayed for the safe release of the kidnapped boy.

Former Bodhgaya LJP MLA Kumar Sarvajeet, one of the organisers of the protest, demanded immediate recovery of the boy and increased security in the town.

On Monday evening, Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vinay Kumar, accompanied by city SP Babu Ram, went to Chanchala’s residence to investigate the case.

Chanchala is separated from Pankaj’s father Neeraj Kumar, who lives in Madhepura. But following the kidnap of Prashant, he has come down to Bodhgaya.

The police have also spoken to the boy’s fellow students. A police source said the school administration had not acted swiftly in informing the cops.

Ram said: “We are investigating the case.”