The CBI team investigating the alleged gangrape-death of a minor girl in Nadia’s Hanskhali arrested three close friends of prime accused Sohail a.k.a. Brajo Gayali, a local Trinamul leader’s son, on Sunday afternoon for their suspected involvement.

Akash Barui, 20, Dipto Gayali, 20, and a teen below 18 have been charged with gangrape, murder, causing disappearance of evidence and aggravated sex under section 6 of the Pocso Act.

They were produced before Ranaghat’s additional chief judicial magistrate’s court that sent them in police remand for four days. The trio were also charged with conspiracy.

Their lawyer Chandan De said the trio whom the CBI arrested and brought to the court were innocent.

“They were invited to the birthday party (Sohail’s birthday party on April 4, when the 14-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped and who bled to death a day later) but in no way associated with the alleged crime. The CBI arrested them on mere suspicion and implicated them.,” the lawyer said.

The CBI in a statement said it had arrested three accused related to the alleged gangrape and murder of the minor girl at Hanskhali.

During the course of the investigation, the role of the accused persons in the crime was reportedly found and hence they were arrested, an official said.

On April 16, the CBI team made its first arrest when it picked up Ranjit Sarkar, a close friend of Sohail.

With these three, six persons, including Sohail, have been so far been arrested in connection with the Hanskhali case.

CBI sources said the trio were picked up from their residences on Saturday afternoon and interrogated in the presence of Sohail, Prabhakar Poddar, and Ranjit to corroborate the factual details of the crime. The interrogation continued late in the night.

Finally, they were arrested for their suspected role and “inconsistencies” in their statement about the alleged crime.

Another friend of Sohail, Surajit Roy, who was picked up and detained for interrogation on Saturday by the CBI was thereafter released.

“The name of the trio of Akash, Dipto and the teenager surfaced during interrogation of Sohail and Prabhakar last week.

Sohail disclosed that all three, who are his close friends, were invited to the birthday party where the girl was raped,” an investigating official said.

Dipto’s mother however claimed that her son was innocent and did not attend the birthday party.