Gandhinagar, April 20: Three persons, including the main perpetrator, involved in the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Surat have been arrested, the Gujarat government said on Friday.
Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja told the media here that Gujarat Police arrested the key perpetrator from a village in Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, who will be brought to Gujarat.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that Surat Police had arrested three persons in the case. All accused are believed to be originally from Rajasthan.
Police had found the body of the girl with over 86 injuries dumped in the bushes near Jeeav Road in Pandesara area of Surat on April 6. An autopsy revealed that she was brutally raped and tortured for days before her murder.
A case of rape was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The Minister said that over 400 personnel of Surat police and Ahmedabad Crime Branch worked on the case.
Police analysed the mobile data and CCTV footage from a 3-km radius of the spot from where the body was found. The case was finally cracked after police zeroed in on CCTV footage of a black car moving suspiciously in the area.
Earlier, police suspected that the girl hailed from either Odisha, West Bengal or Jharkhand. An Andhra Pradesh man had come forward to claim the girl was his daughter. Surat police even carried out a DNA test to verify his claim.
"On April 9, a woman's decomposed body was found lying a few km from the spot where the girl was found dead. We believe she is the girl's mother. We will carry out a DNA test," Jadeja said.
"We will appoint a special public prosecutor to pursue the case in a fast-track court," Jadeja said.
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Om Birla attends swearing-in of new B'desh PM, says India stands ready to support BNP govt
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, and said India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation.
Separately, the speaker called on the new Bangladesh prime minister and conveyed the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Rahman to visit India, officials said here.
“Glad to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka today. India stands ready to support Bangladesh’s endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation,” Birla posted on X.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a post on X, “Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conveys his greetings to India and PM Narendra Modi to the visiting India Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at a courtesy meet following the swearing-in of the new government.
“Speaker Birla conveyed wishes and an invitation to India. Both leaders expressed optimism to work together for the well-being of the people of Bangladesh and India, pursuing a people-centric menu of cooperation.”
Birla also met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and other leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Led by Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept to power with a two-thirds majority with 49.97 per cent votes and 209 seats in the polls held on February 12, results for which were declared on February 13.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, registered its best-ever performance with 31.76 per cent votes and 68 seats.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) secured the third-highest number of seats, six, and 3.05 per cent votes.
Bangladesh had invited Narendra Modi to the ceremony, but the prime minister could not attend the event as he was scheduled to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on Tuesday.
On reaching Dhaka, Birla said the swearing-in of Rahman was an important moment that would strengthen people-to-people relations and shared democratic values between the two neighbours.
“Honoured to be in Dhaka representing India at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by Tarique Rahman as the prime minister. It's an important moment that will strengthen people-to-people ties and shared democratic values between our two nations,” Birla said.
Birla was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials.
