Kolkata, Feb. 9 -- The Bidhannagar Police arrested a toto driver on Sunday morning in connection with the sexual assault and murder of a minor girl whose body was found inside a bush on a land near the Lohapool on Friday.
Police claimed that the toto driver identified as Soumitra Roy alias Raj confessed the crime. He was produced at the Barasat court on Sunday and subsequently remanded to police custody for 10 days.
According to police, the girl had left her home at around 10 pm on Friday. She was spotted in several CCTV camera footage walking along the roads in New Town. Deputy Commissioner (DC), New Town division of Bidhannagar Police, Manav Singla, said that the incident had taken place between 11:30 pm and 2:30 am.
The girl had boarded the toto possibly to return home.
However, when asked about the place where the girl had boarded the toto and its route along with the time frame, Singla said: "The investigation is in its early stage. We are probing all possible angles to find answers to many questions."
When asked if Roy has any antecedents, the DC said that it is getting checked. Though his original residence is in Nadia, Roy used to reside in a rented place in New Town.
Sources said that police for the past two days checked a good number of CCTV footage to trace the girl's movement. After checking the footage, police found the girl had boarded the toto. Accordingly, cops started tracing the toto and on Saturday night, they found Roy. He was detained and grilled throughout the night on suspicion. Later early on Sunday morning, Roy "confessed the crime" following which he was arrested.
The minor girl left her home on Thursday night after she was reportedly rebuked. Since then, the victim remained untraced. After searching for her, the parents of the minor lodged a missing diary early on Friday morning.
After a few hours, local residents of Lohapool area spotted the girl's body inside a bush.
Initially, police had converted the missing diary into a murder case. However, after the autopsy was completed, cops added sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.