JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA - A three-year-old girl was taken on a 40-minute terror ride when a man made off with her mother's car yesterday.

The girl's mother had driven her and her seven-year-old sister to a tuition centre in Nusa Perintis 5 in Gelang Patah about 1.20pm here to pick up their brother.

Her mother had stopped some five metres from the centre and had gotten down from the Toyota Avanza when a man, who was wearing a helmet, barged into the vehicle and drove away.

The girl's older sister managed to jump out of the vehicle just before the man drove away.

About 40 minutes later, the girl was found in Taman Perling some 20km from the place of incident.

Nusajaya OCPD Supt Abd Aziz Ahmad said that police managed to find the girl and returned her to her family but the vehicle has not been recovered.

He added that the child sustained no injuries as she was not physically harmed during the ordeal.

"We are tracking the suspect," he said.

He said that the suspect, in his 30s, could have been involved in several vehicle thefts in the area.

He urged anyone with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station.