Agartala, Oct 15 (IANS): An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Tripura Police has been arrested on charges of raping a minor girl in southern Tripura, police said here Tuesday.

"Mangal Debbarma, an ASI posted in Pitra, Gomati district, was arrested Monday for raping the girl, a student of Class 11," district police chief Gnanathiru Sambandan told IANS by phone.

He said police Tuesday presented Debbarma in a court, seeking his custody.

The police authorities have suspended the ASI from service and ordered a probe into the allegation that a section of police officers is trying to suppress the crime which was committed Saturday night at an isolated brick kiln.

Debbarma knew the 17-year-old girl's family. He took her on his two-wheeler to an isolated brick kiln and raped her. The girl raised an alarm and a passerby rescued her. Debbarma fled the spot, 70 km south from here.

Officers at the Radha Kishorepur police station initially refused to register the case, but the personnel of an all-women police station intervened and swung into action.