On Tuesday morning, a dramatic abduction attempt against Phoolbasan Bai Yadav, a Padma Shri awardee, was foiled in Rajnandgaon in the morning, with police rescuing her, and arresting three suspects, including two women.
Officials claimed that the incident started when Khushbu Sahu, a resident of Bemetara, came to visit Yadav at her residence in Sukuldaihan village around 10:30 am. She supposedly took the social worker outside by saying that a differently-abled woman who was waiting in a car wanted to take a selfie. As Yadav got out and got into the car, it drove away. The accused is also reported to have tied her hands and gagged her, as a way of restraining her.
It was a fateful moment when a traffic police squadron performing regular inspections along the Chikhli outpost on the RajnandgaonKhairagarh road spotted the vehicle. The suspect tried to deceive the police by saying that the lady was an epilepsy patient. Nevertheless, a policeman identified Yadav, and immediately rescued her.
Sahu and the other woman and the driver were all arrested and are in the process of interrogation. Preliminary investigations suggest that Sahu had been in contact with Yadav for several months and may be linked to alleged irregularities involving self-help groups in the region. Law enforcement officials believe that they were collecting the money illicitly in the name of employment training.
Yadav, who was honoured with Padma Shri in 2012, is famous due to her work in empowering women through self-help groups, with a network reaching almost two lakh members. The police are still conducting their investigation to find out the exact motive behind the attempted abduction.