Two people were arrested while three others were detained for questioning in connection with allegations of rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur near Kolkata, even as prohibitory orders were imposed in some pockets of the state, police said.
“We have arrested two people. Three others are being interrogated. We are awaiting the post-mortem report. A six-member special investigation team has been constituted. In all, four FIRs have been registered, including one regarding the alleged rape and murder of the girl and lynching of a man,” an officer in Baruipur district said.
While raids were ongoing to arrest the other accused, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Act were imposed in some pockets in Baruipur and its adjoining areas, police said. Large police forces were deployed in the area to defuse tension and maintain law and order.
The body of a 12-year-old girl, who went missing on Saturday, was recovered from a pond at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district on Sunday. Her family members alleged that she was raped and murdered.
On Sunday, local residents blocked roads and railway lines, demanding justice.
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Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari contacted the father of the minor girl to ensure justice.
“The chief minister assured me that the culprits will be arrested and punished. I demanded that they be executed. He asked me to go to Bhabani Bhawan (state CID headquarters) on Tuesday. I am satisfied with the administration,” the father of the minor girl told the media on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday night claimed that barricades with heavy police deployment were put up outside former West Bengal chief Mamata Banerjee’s residence to prevent her from visiting the family of the minor girl.
“With heavy police deployment, road rallies are being conducted suspiciously outside the residence of our honorable President @MamataOfficial and honorable National Secretary @abhishekaitc,” the TMC claimed in a post on X.
