Bihar: Prime accused in murder of minor girl arrested in Araria

Muzaffarpur (Bihar), Aug 19 (PTI) The prime accused in the murder of a minor girl in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district was arrested by the special investigation team of police on Monday, officials said.

He has been nabbed from Araria district, they said.

Besides, the SIT also apprehended three others in connection with the killing of the 14-year-old Dalit girl, taking the total number of arrests so far to five.

The girl's mutilated body was found in Paru village, a day after she went missing on August 11.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the prime accused was in touch with the girl for the last three years, SSP (Muzaffarpur) Rakesh Kumar told reporters here.

“Sanjay Rai, who was absconding, was arrested by the SIT from Araria district on Monday. Preliminary investigation and analysis of the Call Detail Records (CDR) of the prime accused have revealed that Rai was in touch with the deceased for the last three years. It has also been found that the accused and the deceased used to meet each other almost regularly outside the village,” Kumar said.

“The other three arrested accused - Pankaj Paswan, Munna Paswan and Chunnu - wanted to teach Rai a lesson due to some grudge against him. On August 11, the day the incident took place... Pankaj hit the girl with a rod on the back of her head. Soon after, Munna attacked the girl with a blunt object… and later they fled,” the SSP said.

Rai then “strangled” the minor, “tied her hands and legs, and threw her body in a nearby pond in Paru village” and escaped from the spot, he added.

Efforts are underway to trace two more accused in the case, police said. PTI CORR PKD RBT