Third arrest made in Hanskhali rape case

CBI sleuths on Saturday arrested one person from Ranaghat in West Bengal's Nadia district for his alleged involvement in the case of a minor girl's rape and subsequent death in Hanskhali area.

Hanskhali (West Bengal): CBI sleuths on Saturday arrested one person from Ranaghat in West Bengal's Nadia district for his alleged involvement in the case of a minor girl's rape and subsequent death in the Hanskhali area, a senior official of the agency said. This is CBI's first arrest in the case. Two other accused in the case, one of them the son of a local TMC leader in Nadia, were earlier apprehended by the state police.

"The suspect held today, a friend of the local leader's son, had been hiding in Ranaghat near National Highway 34. We traced him via mobile tower dump technology. We will be questioning him," the CBI official said when contacted. He had fled Hanskhali with his mother soon after the case came to light, he stated. Tower dump technology is used to find information about cellphones active in a particular area.

A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped at the birthday party of the TMC member's son, the prime suspect in the case, on April 4. She bled to death hours later, according to her parents who lodged a police complaint five days later. During the day, the agency questioned the parents and two cousins of the girl. "Their versions have been recorded. We may call them again if there is a need," the official said. A separate team of CBI sleuths, accompanied by personnel of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), in the morning visited the residences of the three accused to collect evidence. The central agency has been directed by the Calcutta High Court to probe the incident.

PTI