SHIMLA, June 23: Scare of child-lifting and rumours about a gang indulging in removal of vital body organs took a bizarre turn on Saturday night when a mob, indulging in road-blockade, gheraoed the Sanjauli police station to protest against police inaction.

The unsavory incident came as sequel to an alarm raised by a woman -- Beerodevi -- who along with her 14-year-old child was returning from the Army Hospital. It was alleged that a car stopped in the middle of the road and the woman sitting on the front made an abortive bid to kidnap the child. Beerodevi was so terrified after the incident that she rushed to the police station and raised an alarm. It was then that the mob swelled up and took to the streets and blocked the traffic.

Finally, the deputy inspector general, Shimla, Enirundh Uppal persuaded the protestors to lift the road-blockade and assured that effective steps would be taken to tackle the problem.

Uppal told The Indian Express that although there was no case of child-lifting on Saturday or possibilities of any gang operating in Shimla, still the police swung into action to remove all apprehensions.

Police personnel, he said, would be posted near all educational institutions and night patrolling would be intensified.

Vague reports about occurrence of near half-a-dozen incidents in the town during past few years have kept the police on their toes and senior officials are finding it difficult to counter the rumours. The local educational institutions, which have warned their students against any movement in absence of proper escorts, have further fueled unsubstantiated reports.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.