Girl shot dead by stalker in Bengal; 3 held

A teenaged girl was on Sunday shot dead outside her home in Jalpaiguri district allegedly by a stalker who was arrested along with his associates within hours of the crime, police said.

The assailants came on a motorbike and shot the Std XI girl as she was returning home from private tuitions.

The girl, who was shot in the head outside her house at Subhas Colony in Falakata, died on the spot.

Following the attack, locals held a demonstration demanding that the culprits be immediately arrested.

The girl's father, Kanu Dutta, lodged an FIR stating that she was shot by one Tapas Das, alias Khudu, who had been stalking her for quite some time.

Taking up the matter, police first arrested two persons in Falakata itself -- Gopal Acharya and Bijit Dutta, who are known accomplices of Tapas.

After interrogating the two, police picked up Tapas from Siliguri, about 100km from Falakata.

Police said Tapas is a historysheeter and has been previously charged in murder and extortion cases.