A five-year-old boy on the way to his school on an e-rickshaw was kidnapped by two motorcycle-borne men who held the three-wheeler's driver at gunpoint at Hasimara in Alipurduar district on Thursday morning and fled with the child allegedly to extort money from his father.

However, police who were soon informed about the abduction chased the bike and rescued the boy in 30 minutes.

Sources said Gitangshu Agarwal, son of Ashish Agarwal, a wholesale rice trader based in Old Hasimara, was on the way to his school in an e-rickshaw with three others. The school is in New Hasimara.

Around 7.45am, two persons on a two-wheeler intercepted the e-rickshaw. Both were wearing helmets and held the driver at gunpoint. They then picked up Gitanshu, who studied in the preparatory class at the English medium school.

"The duo then forced the boy to sit on the bike and fled. They headed for Kalchini via Old Hasimara," said a source.

The e-rickshaw driver was quick to react. He called Ashish and informed him that his son had been abducted. Ashish in turn informed the police about the incident.

Biswajit Dey, the officer-in-charge of Hasimara police outpost which is under the jurisdiction of Jaigaon police station, rushed out and headed towards the route where the bike had left. He soon spotted the two-wheeler and gave it a chase. Another police vehicle which was patrolling nearby was informed and rushed from the opposite direction.

"When the bike reached the Madhu tea estate, Dey overtook the kidnappers and intercepted them. He picked up Gitangshu, who was sobbing then, from the bike while other policemen pounced on the person who was riding the bike," said the source.

The man who was pillion-riding the bike ran away.

The police seized a firearm from the arrested Bablu Jaiswal, who is Gitangshu’s neighbour.

“Bablu Jaiswal had abducted the boy to extort money from Ashish Agarwal. We will interrogate him to gather more details. Searches are on to round up his associate,” said Y. Raghuvamshi, the superintendent of police, Alipurduar.

He appreciated the Hasimara police for their quick action. “The OC and other police personnel of Hasimara have done a great job. They could rescue the boy within half an hour of the abduction,” Raghuvamshi added.

In Hasimara, guardians of the students at the school where Gitanshu studies, also hailed the police. At the same time, they were worried about the incident.

“We hope the police will keep vigil on the routes that hundreds of students take to reach schools every day,” said a guardian.

Later in the day, Jaiswal was produced in the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Alipurduar. The court remanded him in police custody for three days.