Kolkata, Sep 8 : The police on Monday made the first arrest in the mob lynching case, where a couple was allegedly beaten to death on suspicion that they killed a 9-year-old boy.

The police have registered an FIR against a total of 200 people. Police said the arrested youth is a resident of the Nishchintapur area in Tehatta of Nadia district. He was trying to flee the area but was arrested red-handed from the Karimpur police station area.

"One person has been arrested in the mob lynching case. Search is on for the other accused in the case. We are thoroughly investigating the matter," said a senior officer of Nadia district police.

After the murder of a 9-year-old boy in Tehatta last Friday night, a couple named Utpal Biswas and Soma Biswas were killed in a mob lynching. Their daughter-in-law, Nisha, is undergoing treatment in critical condition after being severely beaten up.

The police have recently registered a case against more than 200 people and started an investigation into the incident. Police are deployed round the clock at the place from where the body of the boy was recovered.

CCTV cameras have been installed. The place where the couple was beaten to death has been cordoned off by the police, as broken bamboo pieces and blood stains following the mob lynching are still there. The police are not allowing anyone to reach the spot until the forensic team officials come and collect samples.

On Sunday morning, the police arrested four people in connection with the killing of the boy. They were produced in a court which sent them to police custody.

On Saturday, the couple was lynched after being accused of murdering the boy.

The incident occurred after residents recovered the child's body wrapped in a tarpaulin from a pond. Enraged locals alleged that the two had killed the boy, thrashed them brutally, and set their house on fire.

According to police, Swarnabha Biswas, a Class 3 student, went missing on Friday afternoon after playing in a nearby field.

Despite an overnight search, the family could not trace him. On Saturday morning, villagers spotted his body floating in a pond near the house. Police said that the lynching took place shortly after the body was found.

/IANS