Rape cuffs on uncle

Nirmal Mangar, TT, Gangtok, May 13: A man who had allegedly raped and murdered his eight-year-old niece last year was arrested by the Sikkim police from a hotel in Matigara near Siliguri yesterday.

The accused Santosh Gurung, 26, was working as a waiter in a hotel near Siliguri for the last one month.

He had allegedly raped the minor in a forest in North Regu in East Sikkim on November 6. After allegedly murdering her, he had fled.

The accused was produced in a court in Gangtok today and has been sent to police remand for one week. The police have registered a case of rape and murder against him.

“Almost a week later, the mother of the accused had lodged a missing diary at Rongli police station saying her son and granddaughter had gone missing,” said the investigating officer of Rongli police station Thendup Tseten Bhutia.

The police kept a track of the call records of the accused and came to know that he had been working in one of the hotels near Siliguri for the last one month.

The east district superintendent of police, Manoj Tewari, said: “Our team was very pro active in investigating the case and we will reward them for their hard work.”