Prime accused held in Panchagarh

A teenage boy has been arrested from Panchagarh in connection with a case filed over “raping and killing” a girl, whose body was recovered from toilet of an abandoned carriage at Kamalapur Railway Station on Monday.

A team of Panchagarh Sadar Police Station arrested the boy, a classmate of victim Asma Akhtar, last night, the district’s Superintendent of Police Mohammad Yusuf told The Daily Star today.

The 17-year-old boy is the lone accused in the case, the SP said.

The arrest was made at a time when locals formed a human chain and brought out a procession in the town demanding exemplary punishment of the accused, our Thakurgaon corespondent reports.

A forensic doctor at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Tuesday suspected that the girl was raped before being murdered.

Asma, 17, was choked to death and signs of rape were found, Pradip Biswas, lecturer of forensic medicine department at the DMCH told The Daily Star after an autopsy on the day.

Asma left home on Sunday morning without telling anyone and had been traceless since then, according to the family members.

Asma’s uncle Raju filed a murder case accusing the teenage boy.