A youth from Haryana, accused of allegedly raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl on Diwali night in Panipat, was arrested from Howrah station on Thursday after he alighted from Kalka Mail.
Shiv Kumar, 28, who hails from Panipat, had allegedly tried to perform some tantric rituals on the girl on Diwali night, police said.
A Haryana team looking for Kumar had tipped off railway police in Howrah.
“A senior officer of the rank of inspector-general of police had called up seeking help. Haryana police sent us his photograph and said they have learnt that he has possibly boarded the train,” said a senior officer of the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Howrah.
On receiving the input, a team of officers from GRP Howrah left for Bardhaman station where the train was scheduled to stop.
The team started looking for him after boarding the train.
After sometime, they spotted Kumar seated in the S-6 compartment of the train. He had not purchased a ticket before boarding the train and had to pay a fine, the police said.
Initially, Kumar refused to accept his identity and tried telling his co-passengers that the police were harassing him.
After the identification was done on board Kalka Mail, an intimation was immediately sent to Howrah. A team from Haryana reached Howrah on Thursday afternoon.
“He is the eldest of three siblings and worked as a carpenter. In 2015, he was in jail for a sexual offence in Panipat,” the officer said. Kumar was produced before a court in Howrah and later handed over to Haryana police.
