Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have arrested Milan, a suspected hotel employee, in connection with the murder of schoolgirl Fatema Akhter Lili in the capital’s Banasree area.

Milan was arrested in a joint operation by RAB-3 and RAB-6 in the Bagerhat Sadar Police Station area, RAB said on Monday morning. Further details were not disclosed immediately.

Earlier, on Saturday afternoon, Fatema’s bloodied body was recovered from a house on the main road of South Banasree.

According to police and family sources, Fatema Akhter Lili was the daughter of Sajeeb Mia of Bamoin village under Lakhai Police Station in Habiganj. The family lived in a rented house at Pritam Villa in L Block on the main road of South Banasree under Khilgaon Police Station.

The deceased’s elder sister, Shobha, told reporters that their parents had gone to their village home on January 7 for land-related matters. The family runs a hotel business.

She said that on the day of the incident, she left Fatema at home around 1:30pm and went to the gym. On returning, she found the gate locked but the door to the house open, with belongings scattered inside.

“I saw my sister lying curled up under a large pot-like object inside the house. At first, I thought she had hit her head. Later, when I removed her hijab, I saw a rope around her neck and that her throat had been slit,” Shobha said, adding that they suspected their hotel employee Milan.

She further said that two days before the incident, around 11pm on Thursday, Milan had come to the house to collect food, when Lily had an altercation with him. Milan also came to the house again around noon on the day of the incident, she added.