Siliguri, April 14: A 20-year-old electrician yesterday stabbed his teenaged girlfriend on the shoulder, abdomen and chest after she tried to end their three-year-old affair and rejected his gifts for the Bengali New Year.

The 16-year-old from Jalpaiguri, who is waiting for her Madhyamik results, is being treated at a private nursing home in Siliguri. Doctors said her condition was critical.

Her boyfriend, Niranjan Rongdar alias Tinku, has been arrested.

According to police, the girl used to stay with her mother, who is a cook, at a rented house at Raikatpara in Jalpaiguri town.

Yesterday around 8.30pm, the girl, accompanied by a friend, was returning from a neighbour’s place when she met Tinku. “He offered her a gift and a card, which she rejected and reportedly told him to end the affair,” a police officer said. “Tinku insisted that he planned to marry her. But when the girl stuck to her stand, the youth took out a knife and stabbed her on the shoulder, abdomen and chest and fled.”

The girl was rushed to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital and later taken to the private clinic in Siliguri. The landlady of the house where she stays with her mother lodged a complaint with police.

“She often complained about the youth disturbing her. There was no affair between them,” a relative of the girl said.

Police, however, have recovered a plastic bag from the place where Tinku attacked her. It contained several greetings cards, imitation jewellery sets, key rings and other trinkets, which the girl had apparently brought with her to return to Tinku.

“The dates on the cards were from 2005 onwards, all presented by Tinku, indicating that there was some relationship between them,” the police officer said.

Tinku, who lives in Bhatakhana near Raikatpara, was arrested late last night from Paharpur More on the outskirts of the town.

“We had an affair for the past three years, but recently, she was avoiding me and telling me that she did not wish to continue. However, I did not want to end the relationship,” Tinku told reporters at the Kotwali police station this morning.

“A case of attempt to murder has been registered against Tinku,” said Rajib Bhattacharjee, the inspector-in-charge of the police station.