A 14-year-old schoolgirl of a village in Balurghat block of South Dinajpur was found hanging at her house on Sunday afternoon, the girl’s family blaming a youth who tried to blackmail her with her pictures clicked in a compromising position.

Her family members filed a complaint against the neighbourhood youth at Balurghat police station on Monday, prompting the police to start a probe.

Sources said the girl had been approached by the youth a few days back. When she ignored his advances, he showed her the pictures clicked on his phone and threatened to upload them on social media.

“My daughter told us about the incident. We assured her that we would look into it but she panicked and became depressed. On Sunday, when she was alone at home for some time, she took this drastic step. It is because of the youth that we have lost her. He should be booked under law and punished,” said the girl’s father.

A police officer said probe was on. “If the charges are found true, the accused would be arrested and charged with abetting suicide,” said a police officer.

Deer horn seized

A joint team of foresters of Moraghat forest range and policemen from Banahart searched Haldibari tea estate in Banarhat of Jalpaiguri on Monday to seize a deer horn, illegal timber and tree-cutting equipment. In all, goods worth around Rs 4 lakh were seized from some locked quarters of the tea garden and probe on who were behind the racket was on, said Rajkumar Pal, Moraghat range officer.

Additional reporting by our Jalpaiguri correspondent