The investigation into the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur has led to the arrest of three men, with the prime accused, Anand Sardar, expected in court on Tuesday, while two others, Pravas Mondal and Dibakar Sardar, were remanded to 14 days police custody after being apprehended on Monday. All three face serious charges including gang rape, murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and offenses under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, with the victim having disappeared on Saturday afternoon while out to buy a birthday gift and her body subsequently recovered from water in a sack, with police suspecting she was alive when drowned. Residents played a crucial role in identifying and apprehending suspects, utilizing CCTV footage to track movements and pinpoint individuals, although Anand Sardar reportedly escaped initial apprehension with the alleged intervention of a local BJP leader before being rearrested on Monday, and another accused, Indrajit Tanti, was lynched by a mob on Sunday.

The investigation into the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur has led to the arrest of three men, with the prime accused, Anand Sardar, expected in court on Tuesday, while two others, Pravas Mondal and Dibakar Sardar, were remanded to 14 days police custody after being apprehended on Monday. All three face serious charges including gang rape, murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and offenses under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, with the victim having disappeared on Saturday afternoon while out to buy a birthday gift and her body subsequently recovered from water in a sack, with police suspecting she was alive when drowned. Residents played a crucial role in identifying and apprehending suspects, utilizing CCTV footage to track movements and pinpoint individuals, although Anand Sardar reportedly escaped initial apprehension with the alleged intervention of a local BJP leader before being rearrested on Monday, and another accused, Indrajit Tanti, was lynched by a mob on Sunday.

The investigation into the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur has led to the arrest of three men, with the prime accused, Anand Sardar, expected in court on Tuesday, while two others, Pravas Mondal and Dibakar Sardar, were remanded to 14 days police custody after being apprehended on Monday. All three face serious charges including gang rape, murder, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and offenses under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, with the victim having disappeared on Saturday afternoon while out to buy a birthday gift and her body subsequently recovered from water in a sack, with police suspecting she was alive when drowned. Residents played a crucial role in identifying and apprehending suspects, utilizing CCTV footage to track movements and pinpoint individuals, although Anand Sardar reportedly escaped initial apprehension with the alleged intervention of a local BJP leader before being rearrested on Monday, and another accused, Indrajit Tanti, was lynched by a mob on Sunday.

The prime accused in the the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, Anand Sardar, will be produced before the Baruipur additional chief judicial magistrate on Tuesday.

Two of the three men, Pravas Mondal and Dibakar Sardar, arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, were produced before the court on Monday.

They were remanded in police custody for 14 days.

All three have been booked under charges of gang rape, murder and kidnapping of a minor, criminal conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence and provisions of the Protection of Children from sexual offences act.

Anand Sarkar was picked up from his in-laws' residence at Mulickpur in Baruipur.

The girl studied in class 6 and had gone out to buy a birthday gift for her friend on Saturday afternoon, her family said.

When she didn't return by 6 pm, her relatives searched for her, and they were joined by the locals.

Residents of Baruipur alleged that locals searched for the girl through Saturday night and caught two of the accused, including Ananda, early o Sunday morning but managed to escape during the commotions that followed.

By Monday evening, three men were arrested. Residents say the breakthrough in identifying the accused came from them rather than the police.

Locals scanned CCTV footage from a nearby building on Saturday evening and tracked the movements of the girl and the suspected men.

“We scanned CCTV footage and saw her in one clip at 4.35 pm. Then she was seen with a man in a red T-shirt near a school around 4.42 pm. The man wore a cap, which made identification difficult. Later, we saw him speaking to another man whom we could identify,” one resident involved in the search said.

The CCTV footage has now emerged online, showing some of the girls' last moments.

Past midnight, the house of the man was identified, and the locals narrowed down the suspect in the red t-shirt.

“This man was Pravas Mondal. When we reached his house around 3 am, his wife and mother said he was not home. But a sound from inside made us suspicious. The police helped us then and entered the house. He was hiding in a corner,” the resident said.

A missing persons report was filed at around 9 pm, and the local helped the police identify the suspect using the footage.

Pravas Mondal tried to mislead the search team by claiming that the child was safe.

“He said she had been given noodles to eat and named others, saying they had kidnapped her for money and that he was not involved,” another resident from the search team said.

“Later, he admitted he was part of the group that abducted and assaulted her.”

Pravs then led the team to the water, where the girl’s body was recovered from a sack. Police believe that the victim was thrown into the water while she was still alive, as muddy water was found in her lungs.

Local tried to reach Anand Sarker.

He was apprehended by a search team but escaped after the BJP leader Santanu Mondal arrived, and allegedly intervened.

He then attempted to hand the suspects over to the police early on Sunday.

Police said that the local outpost only had two constables when Santanu arrived.

Ananda reportedly fled during the chaos that ensued

An officer-led team from Baruipur police station reached the spot around 10.30 am on Sunday, nearly three hours after the body was recovered.

On Sunday, one of the accused, Indrajit Tanti, was lynched by a mob.

Dibakar Sardar was arrested late on Sunday, followed by Ananda’s arrest on Monday morning.

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