A 20-year-old man has been arrested in Dhaka for allegedly assisting in the abduction and rape of a 16-year-old in Kendua upazila of Netrokona.

The girl has also been rescued, Rab said.

Major Mir Ishtiaq Amin, commander of the Mymensingh Rab-14 headquarters company, confirmed the matter this afternoon.

Rab said a team arrested Jony, a resident of Chitholia village in Kendua, from Bashundhara area under Vatara Police Station last night. Acting on information obtained from him, the team later rescued the girl.

According to the case statement cited by Rab, Rony Mia, 22, of the same village, had proposed marriage to the girl, but her family rejected the proposal because she was a minor. Rony, Jony and several others then allegedly conspired to abduct her.

On August 20 last year, the girl was allegedly picked up in a microbus at around 7:30am while on her way to a coaching centre and taken to an unknown location, where Rony allegedly raped her, according to the case.

Her brother filed a case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act with Kendua Police Station on September 10 last year, accusing Rony of abduction and rape and Jony and four others of aiding the crime.

Rab said Jony was traced to Bashundhara and arrested with assistance from Rab-1 in Uttara. He was handed over to Kendua police today and later produced before a court.

Kendua OC Tarikul Islam said two other accused, Shamim Mia and Jharna Akter, had previously been arrested. Rony and another accused, Rana, remain at large, he said.