Sikkim police with the assistance of their Bengal counterparts and the Border Security Force have arrested an alleged child abuser from Fulbari in Jalpaiguri district of Bengal.

Tashi Wangyal Bhutia, the senior superintendent of police of west Sikkim, said Sikandra Ali, 21, a resident of Fulbari near the Indo-Bangladesh border, was arrested on Sunday in connection with the case registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act at the Kaluk police station in west Sikkim on August 11 last year.

Bhutia said Ali had befriended a 14-year-old girl from west Sikkim on Facebook and lured her into his native place from where she was recovered within a few days of the compliant being lodged.

“Unfortunately, despite our team moving in at night, she had already been sexually assaulted. The accused couldn’t be traced despite making several efforts,” he said.

A team headed by deputy superintendent of police Bikash Tiwari managed to arrest Ali on Sunday.

The accused was taken to on the same day and was produced in a court in Gyalshing, the district headquarters of west Sikkim, the following day.

He is now in judicial custody.

“The area where the accused lives in is a no man’s territory within Fulbari on the Indo-Bangladesh border. Even the Jalpaiguri police and the BSF had much trepidation entering the area where the public are known to be volatile. The assistance of Jalpaiguri police station and BSF were vital in the operation,” said the SSP.