Bengaluru: The police detained the driver of a minibus ferrying children to school, on allegations that he behaved inappropriately with a three-and-a-half year old girl in southeast Bengaluru.

The 28-year-old man was detained under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act on Tuesday after the mother of a pre-nursery student of a school near Bommanahalli filed a police complaint against him. Senior police officials refused to divulge the name of the accused but said the detention was made on the basis of the child pointing fingers at him and calling him bad uncle.

The girl’s parents are working professionals and the child is enrolled with the school, about 2km from her home. They had engaged a minibus to take their child to and from school every day.

“According to the mother, the girl complained to her that the van driver was behaving badly with her. The driver, who picks and drops the child every day, allegedly held the child inappropriately every time the kid boarded or disembarked the van,” a police source said.

A posse of police personnel in plainclothes, including women officials, went to the school, took the suspect into a room and asked the child and parents to sit opposite the driver, police said. The child is said to have pointed fingers at the driver and called him bad uncle. Police officials said they will arrest the accused only after medical tests and another identification parade.