Malda: Unrest broke out in the North Baluchar area of English Bazar over the alleged abduction and brutal murder of a minor girl of the area by her relative on Wednesday morning. The police arrested the accused 27-year-old, Srikant Keshri.
The body and severed head of 11-year-old Sristi Keshri were recovered from a warehouse and rooftop of another warehouse of the Aambazar in English Bazar in the wee hours of Thursday after the accused confessed to his guilt during interrogation by the police.
The locals vandalised the house of the accused. Later the mob went to Rathbari More and blocked the National Highway. The police managed to control the situation after an hour.
The minor girl was taken by his uncle, the accused, for a bike ride on January 29 evening and was killed brutally with a sharp weapon owing to an old grudge on the father of the victim. Keshri also severed the head from the body and kept them in two places almost 50 meters away. Then he returned and even joined the search party for the missing girl. Manoj Keshri, father of the deceased, filed a complaint with the police that night and the CCTV footage of the entire area was collected. The police detained the accused but he misled the police by giving false statements. Later the sleuths verified his statements but found irregularities and began to collect more evidence.
Finally, the accused was brought to the police station and quizzed. He then confessed to having committed the crime. The youth was arrested and later remanded to police custody for 12 days.
Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Superintendent of Police Malda, said: “The accused tried to fool the police with misleading information but CCTV footage and verification of his statements uncovered the truth.”