Cuttack, Aug. 5: Banki police today arrested two persons for allegedly raping and murdering a minor girl inside a moving bus in Cuttack, in an assault reminiscent of the Delhi bus gang rape in 2012.

The 17-year-old girl in Cuttack was gang-raped by the helper and conductor of a private bus that was on its way to Athgarh on August 1.

The body of the victim, who hailed from Gaurangpur village in Athgarh, was recovered from Mahanadi river near the Subarnapur-Jatamundia bridge the next day.

Senior police officials said that a rape case was registered after the body was recovered almost without clothes, but initially, the victim couldn't be identified.

The accused have been identified as helper Bibhuti Rout, 20, and driver Santosh Sahu, 28. Both the accused were operating a private bus from Cuttack to Ratagarh in Banki via Athgarh.

Superintendent of police (Cuttack rural) Madhav Sahu said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused murdered the girl by hitting her with an iron hammer and a wrench after raping her. Later, the duo threw the body into the Mahanadi from the Subarnapur-Jatamundia bridge at Banki and fled the spot.

The cops have seized bloodstained clothes and found traces of blood in the bus. Pieces of victim's smashed skull and the weapon of the crime have also been seized. The family members of the deceased had registered a missing complaint with Banki police after she did not return home on August 1.

Senior police officials said that the accused were nabbed based on the statements of close acquaintances of the deceased and her call records.

The police superintendent said: "The victim was in a relationship with the driver and had boarded the bus on the fateful day. She had travelled between Cuttack and Athgarh thrice on the fateful day."

The incident has sent shockwaves in Athgarh and Banki.