A 19-year-old burglar armed with a stolen surgical blade met his match in a 19-year-old medical student in Ranchi in the small hours of Thursday.

Smita Mishra, who is pursuing her MBBS at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), kept landing punches on Samshad, a Kadru resident and drug junkie, till he was knocked down during the midnight break-in at her Saket Vihar home in Harmu under Argora thana area of the capital.

The gutsy girl single-handedly took on the intruder after he injured her father and two neighbours, who had also rushed in to help. She stopped only when Samshad was overpowered after 20 minutes of a brave confrontation.

Police have arrested the burglar and are looking for an aide who managed to escape undetected with Rs 17,000 in case, two mobile phones and a few other valuable items.

According to Manoj Mishra, Smita's father and an assistant manager with a private company, he was the first to discover the break-in around 12.30am.

'I had told my wife, Suman, that I would get late at work. So, she left the main gate open and the family retired for the day (Wednesday night). Suman slept in one room while our children (daughter Smita and 15-year-old son Shivansh) in another,' he said.

When Mishra returned home past midnight, he stumbled upon open drawers that had been rummaged through and their belongings littered on the floor. He also noticed the back gate open. 'I had barely raised an alarm when a young man pounced on me with a long blade,' he recalled.

During the scuffle, Samshad managed to give Mishra a deep gash on the left side of his neck, which made him slump to the floor. Luckily, the melee woke up Smita who attacked Samshad in turn while her mother tried to protect her brother and injured father.

Neighbours Prem Prakash Jha and Arun Kumar Jha, who live on the floor above, heard screams and rushed to the Mishra household. Samshad jabbed the surgical blade in Prem Prakash's hand and Arun Kumar's leg, temporarily incapacitating them. Left to fight one-to-one, Smita didn't give up. She dodged blade swipes and kept landing punches.

'He (Samshad) had oiled his body and it was difficult to keep him pinned down. He had stolen the surgical blade from my tool box. The struggle continued for around 20 minutes before we could overpower him,' Smita said, adding that she escaped with muscle sprain during the fight while her father had to be hospitalised for the gash.

Arun Kumar said the intruder was carrying some anaesthesia-like substance. 'When I tried to grab him, he put his palm on my face and I passed away for a few minutes,' he said adding that police were informed only after they tied up Samshad.

Argora thana OC Ratibhan Singh said the arrested youth often committed petty crimes to sponsor his drug habit. 'We are in the process of lodging an FIR based on the family's complaint,' he said.

City SP Aman Kumar said if investigations proved that Mishra's injuries were lethal, Samshad would be booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC, which could invite a punishment of 10 years in jail.