Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Sep 15 (PTI) Six people were arrested on Thursday in connection with the rape and murder of two Dalit teenage sisters in Nighasan here, police said.

The girls were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field located about a kilometre away from their house on Wednesday.

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Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) told reporters, "We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation."

Junaid and Sohail were in a relationship with the two sisters, the SP said.

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"As per preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on Wednesday afternoon on the persuasion of Junaid and Sohail. Junaid and Sohail have confessed that they strangulated the girls after raping them," said the SP.

The girls' mother had on Wednesday claimed that they were murdered.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)