Three persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in Baruipur in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, The Hindu reported on Tuesday.

A local Bharatiya Janata Party functionary has also been detained on allegations of helping one of the suspects temporarily escape, The Telegraph reported.

On Sunday, the 12-year-old girl’s body was recovered from a sack in a pond in the Surjyapur area, a day after she was reported missing.

The case was initially registered as a missing person complaint on Saturday after her father reported her disappearance. Following the preliminary investigation, police added charges of rape, gang rape, murder, destruction of evidence and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, an unidentified police officer told the newspaper.

The incident then triggered widespread protests, with demonstrators blocking roads and a railway line, burning tyres and vandalising police vehicles, The Telegraph reported.

During the unrest, residents allegedly caught two suspects and assaulted them. A 26-year-old man suspected of being associated with the accused was also allegedly lynched by a mob, The Telegraph reported.

The police have also detained Santanu Mondal, a local BJP leader, on allegations of helping one of the suspects escape, The Telegraph reported.

According to the police, Mondal intervened after residents caught the two suspects and took them to a police outpost. Officers at the outpost were outnumbered when the crowd again attacked the suspects.

“The force was outnumbered and the mob started to thrash the men again, alleging the BJP leader was trying to help them,” a police officer told the newspaper. “The prime accused, Ananda Sardar, took advantage of the chaos and fled.”

Ananda Sardar was arrested later on Monday, The Hindu reported. The other two arrested men have been identified as Dibakar Sardar and Pravas Mondal.

The state government has also constituted a six-member Special Investigation Team headed by Additional Superintendent of Police Pinaki Dutta to investigate the case, The New Indian Express reported.

The police have also registered three additional cases relating to the violence that followed the discovery of the body, including on charges of mob lynching, damage to railway tracks and attacks on security personnel and police vehicles, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

Adhikari said he had spoken to the girl’s family and assured them the government would seek capital punishment for those responsible.

Meanwhile, the authorities have imposed orders prohibiting public gatherings under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita across Baruipur, Narendrapur and Sonarpur areas of South 24 Parganas to maintain law and order.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.