Tezpur, Feb. 14: The body of a minor girl was found near the Bhalukpong railway station under Chariduar police station in Sonitpur district bordering Arunachal Pradesh this morning. Police suspect it to be a case of rape-cum-murder.

The 14-year-old student of Class VII went missing from home on Wednesday.

Her family members came to know about her disappearance around 10am the same day when she did not turn up for school.

According to Chariduar police, the hands and legs of the deceased were tied with ropes and she had been gagged.

There were injury marks on her face.

The police used a sniffer dog to search for clues.

'They were searching for her since yesterday morning, when her father, a farmer, belatedly informed the police about her disappearance. The body was found 2km from the Balipara-Bhalu-kpong road and around 3km from her residence. It is a forested area. It seems she was raped and subsequently murdered. It will become clear in the post-mortem report,' a police source said.

The post-mortem was conducted at Kanaklata civil hospital at Tezpur.

This is the first such incident in the area which has around 15 households, most of them from the Bodo community.

There is no power or water supply in the area.

Sanjukta Parashar, the superintendent of police, Sonitpur, told The Telegraph that investigation was on and the police have detained two suspects - Bikram Das and Bikram Basumatary - in connection with the case.

'They duo were allegedly not present in their respective homes in the area where the body was found. Both are daily wagers. They have been only detained for questioning,' a police source said.

It is not known whether they were locals or outsiders working in the area.

Bhalukpong is nearly 60km from Tezpur and 240km from Guwahati.

It is a tourist spot in Arunachal Pradesh.