Darbhanga, Sept. 30: Child and women trafficking is rampant in the northern districts of the state but a teenager’s abortive attempt to kidnap a toddler has raised eyebrows.

Local residents caught 14-year-old Rakesh Kumar Singh (name changed) trying to kidnap a one-and-a-half-year-old child from Lal Bag near Paani Tanki under Town police station last evening.

They started beating him up when the police arrived and nabbed Rakesh.

Rakesh, a student of Class VIII at Government Middle School at Kumarpatti village under Simri police station took Mohammed Saltanat, son of Mohammed Akhlakh, away from Lal Bag area yesterday.

Saltanat was playing on a vendor’s cart, while his father was having snacks at a nearby stall. Suddenly, Rakesh came and picked up the child from the cart and took to his feet.

Akhlakh raised an alarm and the public chased Rakesh and caught up with him. They thrashed him till the police reached the spot. A case under Section 365 (kidnap) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Rakesh under Town police station.

City superintendent of police Kumar Aikley told The Telegraph: “Rakesh has confessed to his crime of stealing the child. Investigations are on to ascertain whether the confessional statement is true or false. It is difficult to make a comment over the nature of the crime and it will be clear only once the investigation is completed.”

On whether Rakesh has any link with any organised child trafficking rackets or not, Aikley said: “Police are striving hard to reach the bottom of the case and investigating it from all angles. We are conducting raids according to the information provided by Rakesh but it is too early to arrive at any conclusion.”

However, Rakesh said he made an abortive attempt to steal Mohammed Saltanat on behalf of one Chandan Kumar Lal (22), who actually hatched the plan.

Rakesh has claimed that Chandan, a resident of Kumarpatti under Simri police station, had threatened to kill him if he refused to obey him.

Though Rakesh confessed to his crime, he claimed he had committed it for the first time.

Rakesh is at present lodged in police lock-up.

Last week, a child was also arrested on charges of stealing a child from Hassan Chowk in Darbhanga and sent to a juvenile home.