KARACHI: Police on Saturday arrested a man from Karachi's Lyari neighbourhood for his alleged involvement in a bid to kidnap a female university student. SSP City Sarfaraz Nawaz while detailing the entire episode said that a female student was traveling in a rickshaw on June 13 when the driver took out a gun and took her hostage.

"The driver forced the university student to wear sunglasses covered with a black tape so that she could not locate the place where she is being taken," he said adding that the girl jumped from the moving rickshaw and ran away in the injured condition. The suspect also deprived her of her mobile during the entire episode.

SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz said that the Baghdadi police arrested the suspect from Mahabat Khan Road in Lyari. During interrogation, it emerged that the rickshaw used in the entire episode was also stolen by him from Lyari's Kalakot area.

"He hatched the entire ploy to receive Rs 5 million ransom," he said adding that the suspect was wanted in six cases previously and is a habitual criminal.

This is not the first such incident where a rickshaw driver was allegedly involved in a kidnapping bid. In March this year, police claimed to have arrested a rickshaw driver allegedly involved in abducting a toddler from near the Karachi airport. The police said that two-year-old Aman was recovered during a raid besides also arresting the rickshaw driver who claimed that he took away the child as he had no son. "We have handed over Aman to his parents," they said.