Haliyal: A shameful incident of attempt to kidnap and molest a 10-year-old girl was reported here in Haliyal on 27th January, Saturday evening.

According to the sources, the girl was standing near the Milagres church here when an auto said to be from Dharwad happened to pass by. The driver, Abdulkareem Abdulgafar Mestry (45), resident of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar of Dharwad, alighted from the vehicle and in the pretext of asking the girl about some address lifted her and put her in the auto. He drove towards Dharwad and on the way about 5 kms from Haliyal, he diverted the auto towards a pathway that led to the nearby forest. 

The accused intended to rape the girl. Policemen Ashok Hubballi and Mahantesh Barker, who were going towards a nearby temple on their two-wheeler saw the girl who was shouting for help. On the information given by her, the duo took their two-wheeler towards the path way and nabbed the culprit.