Police have arrested a local Chhatra Dal leader in Jashore's Chougachha upazila on charges of raping an 18-year-old Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) second-year student.

The accused, Arafat Hossain Rabbi, 22, is the senior joint general secretary of the Chougachha Government College unit of Chhatra Dal, said Chaugachha Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mamunur Rashid.

He was arrested around 11:00pm last night after the victim's family filed a written complaint with the police station.

A rape case was filed based on the victim's complaint, the OC said.

According to the first information report (FIR), the victim, who is Rabbi's neighbour, sought his help in obtaining her National Identity (NID) card. The complaint alleged that, despite Saturday being a government holiday, Rabbi took her to Chougachha town around 10:30am on the pretext of helping her with the process.

He then allegedly took her to a house and raped her, the complaint said.

The victim reportedly fell ill after the incident. After recovering somewhat, she returned home and informed her family. Later that night, she went to the police station with her mother and filed the complaint.

Acting on the complaint, a police team led by Sub-Inspector Abdus Sattar raided Rabbi's residence and arrested him.

"The accused will be produced before the court today," the OC said.

Emon Hasan Rocky, member secretary of the Chougachha upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), confirmed Rabbi's organisational position but claimed the allegation might be part of a conspiracy. He said the party wanted the victim's medical examination report to establish the facts.