The incident took place yesterday when four armed men riding on motorbikes intercepted a rickshaw in which a woman, Ruchi, was travelling with her five-year-old son Raghav on West End road, near Sadar Bazar here, and tried to take the boy forcefully.
Dharmendra Jain, an oil businessman, who was passing by the area, along with his two armed guards intervened and fired in the air, said police.
Hearing the gun shots, the accused panicked and fled from the spot.