By Suryagni Roy: The postmortem of a minor tribal girl, who was allegedly raped and killed in West Bengal, has revealed that the cause of death was due to the presence of a poisonous substance, police said. No major injury marks were found on the girl’s body.

The body of the teenage girl was found floating in a canal in North Dinajpur district’s Kaliaganj on Friday. A day later, on Saturday, violence broke out after locals protested demanding the arrest of all culprits.

READ | Violence in Bengal’s Kaliaganj over alleged rape, murder of minor girl; cops drag victim’s body

In a preliminary report, the cause of death has been attributed to the presence of a poisonous substance.

Sana Akhtar, SP Dinajpur, told India Today, “We formed a three-member medical board which was present during the post mortem. Family was present during the procedure. In the preliminary report, the cause of death is due to the effect of the presence of a poisonous substance.”

“No other major injury marks were found on the body,” the Dinajpur SP said.

On videos showing police personnel dragging the victim’s body through the street, Sana Akhtar said, “We had requested the locals to let us take the body for investigation purposes. We told the locals multiple times but we faced objection. We had to use mild force to take the body. If we find anything during the investigation, we will take departmental action.”

According to police, the girl, who was a resident of Gangua village of Uttar Dinajpur district, went missing on Thursday evening after she went for her tuition. Her family was not able to trace her the entire night, despite extensive searches by relatives and villagers. So far, two people have been arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder.

(With inputs from Tanmoy)