Chennai: Man arrested for threatening four schoolgirls with knife

CHENNAI: A 35-year-old man, who threatened four girls at knifepoint and tried to get them to eat chocolates, was arrested on Friday.
The girls, all Class V students, were returning home from a corporation school when they were intercepted by Libbu Das, a native of Bihar. The man offered them a pack of chocolates but the girls ignored him.
"Das brandished a knife and told them that their mothers would be killed if they did not eat the chocolates," said a police officer.
Panicked, the girls raised an alarm. Three of them ran back to the school and reported the matter to their teachers. Later, one more girl child escaped from Das and joined them.
The teachers gathered a few people from the locality and went searching for the man who was hiding in a building. The locals nabbed and beat Das up before handing him over to police.
The New Washermenpet police booked Das for threatening and attempting to kidnap the girls. He was produced before a court that remanded him in judicial custody.
Police said Das had worked in a godown as a loadman in Washermenpet for four years. He quit his job last year and had gone home. "He was not involved in any similar offences earlier. We are also checking his criminal antecedents," said an investigating officer.
Police suspect Das might h ave laced the chocolates with sedatives and made an attempt to kidnap the girls. The chocolates have been sent to a laboratory for tests.