Three held for lynching Bengal man after 11-year-old rape victim's body found in pond; total 5 held

Kolkata, Jul 11 (PTI) Three people were arrested on Saturday for their alleged involvement in the lynching of a man following the recovery of the body of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal who was raped, killed and thrown into a pond stuffed in a sack, police said. With this, the total number of arrests in the case rose to five, they said. The girl went missing on July 4 after she left her home in South 24 Parganas' Baruipur to buy a birthday gift for a friend. Her family lodged a missing complaint with the police, and the body was recovered a day later. Immediately after the recovery, a mob lynched a man, Indrajit Mondal, suspecting his involvement in the girl's rape and murder. Later, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that Mondal was innocent and those involved in the lynching would be charged for murder. Adhikari is scheduled to meet the family of the rape-murder victim before visiting Mondal's house on Saturday. A senior police officer said, "A thorough investigation is underway. We have already arrested five accused in the lynching case. No one will be spared." Adhikari visited Baruipur soon after the rape and murder of the girl, when he met the victim's family at the district police headquarters. He also met Mondal's family and held a meeting with senior police officers before announcing that he would return within a week. The chief minister is also scheduled to inaugurate a police outpost at Surjapur in the Baruipur Police District jurisdiction. Ahead of the chief minister's visit, the local administration mended the dilapidated roads, while Mondal's house that was vandalised by the mob following the lynching was also repaired. Officials have been extending assistance to Mondal's elderly parents. PTI SCH NSD