Police arrested five teenagers in connection with raping and killing a 7-year-old girl in Baraigram, Natore.
“The arrestees are between 14 and 16 years of age,” said Natore Superintendent of Police (SP) Amzad Hossain on Saturday.
He said several detective teams of Natore District Police conducted a raid and first arrested two teenagers.
Acting on their information, three more teenagers were arrested, the SP said.
Four of the five teenagers arrested in Garfa and nearby villages in Baraigram upazila, while another lives in Rampur, Chatmohar.
During the preliminary interrogation, the SP said, they confessed to the police that they had raped and killed the child.
According to him, they are being further interrogated at the office of the Natore Superintendent of Police.
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Since no one of the arrested was adults, the police did not release their identities and photos.
Earlier on April 15, locals found her body lying in a cornfield in Haripur village of Katakhali union in Chatmohar upazila, a few hundred yards away from the house. First, they informed the child's family, and then informed the police.
Upon receiving the information, Natore and Pabna district police went to the spot.
At that time, the child's face was burned with acid. Later, the police collected evidence and sent the body to the Pabna Sadar Hospital morgue.
That day, an eyewitness and neighbour Emdadul Haque said that farmers in the area who were working in the fields first saw his body. “Later, we informed the family and went there. After a while, the police came and took the body.”
He said her entire face was burnt.
Mahbubur Rahman, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Baraigram Police Station, said that the police intelligence team has been on the ground to identify and arrest the criminals since the body was recovered.
Although the child's home is in Baraigram Upazila (Natore), the body was found in the Chatmohar area of Pabna, which borders the upazila.
As a result, a case was filed with Chatmohar Police Station.