An 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted, murdered and thrown into a river allegedly by a BJP worker in Jalpaiguri district.

Police have arrested the accused on Sunday and are probing the case.

Sources said the child went missing on Friday from a lane near her home. After her family members could not find her, they filed a complaint at the local police station.

Police started an investigation.

On Sunday evening, the police got information that a large polythene sack was found floating in a stream near the girl’s home. They recovered it and found a girl’s body inside.

Family members of the missing girl, when called, identified the body to be that of their daughter.

“The body was found around 20km from the victim’s house. Soon, the accused was arrested. During interrogation, he revealed that he had sexually assaulted the girl, murdered her, packed her body in the bag and dumped it in the river,” said a police officer investigating the case.

During the course of the investigation, the police came to know the accused was a neighbour of the victim. The girl would often go to his house to watch television.

“On Friday afternoon, the accused called the victim to his house and committed the crime. He has been booked under certain sections of the IPC, including murder, and the the Pocso Act,” the officer added.

As the news spread, agitated residents tried to ransack the BJP worker’s house. Police brought the situation under control.

A district BJP leader claimed the accused was not politically active nowadays.

“The law will take its own course. We want his exemplary punishment. At the party level, we have gathered some information about him. It has been found that he was not active in politics nowadays,” said a BJP functionary in Jalpaiguri.