A 42-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Korba district, three days after she went missing, police said on Friday.
The child’s body was recovered from bushes behind a poultry farm in the Rajgamar police chowki area on Thursday morning. Police said a sniffer dog helped investigators trace the suspect to his house in the Ravanbhatha locality.
In a statement, police said the girl had gone missing on the Monday evening, October 19, soon after she stepped out to buy something from a nearby grocery shop. Her father later approached the police, saying she had not returned.
The girl’s father had moved with his four children to Rajgamar from Sakti district four months ago and worked at a poultry farm to support his family, an official said.
On Thursday morning, police received information about a child’s body in the bushes behind the poultry farm. A forensic team and a police dog were subsequently brought in as part of the investigation.
The sniffer dog led investigators to a house in Ravanbhatha, following which police detained and questioned the suspect. He was identified as Ajay alias Amit Chauhan, a resident of Devmati Para under Bango police station, around 60 km from Rajgamar, police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Korba, Lakhan Patle said Chauhan came to Ravanbhatha on Monday to visit a woman he claimed was his second wife. He spotted the girl alone, sexually assaulted her, murdered her, and fled the spot.