Behrampore, Sept. 3: The police arrested the headmaster of a primary school last night on charges of attempting to rape a girl of Class III in Nadia’s Shantipur.

“We arrested the headmaster on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl’s father. We questioned the nine-year-old girl and decided to arrest the headmaster, Rajkumar Poddar,” said Annappa E, additional superintendent of police.

The police said last Tuesday the headmaster had asked the girl to stay back after school.

“In his complaint, the girl’s father said after all the students had left, the headmaster called the girl to his chamber. There the headmaster allegedly tried to rape her,” said a police officer. The girl managed to run out.

However, Poddar, 58, denied the charge.