Patna, July 16 (IANS): Three suspects were detained in connection with the gang rape of two minor cousins in Bihar's Rohtas district, police said on Thursday.

"Three suspects have been detained and interrogated by a team of police officials," a district police official said.

According to senior officers at the police headquarters here, all the accused have been identified and would be arrested soon.

The two minors were sexually assaulted by around 15 youths when they were returning from a temple on Wednesday.

The girls, students of classes 6 and 7, were admitted in a critical condition in a hospital in district headquarters Sasaram on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile,Savita Natrajan, a member of the Bihar State Women's Commission, visited both the girls in the hospital and inquired after their health. "Natrajan met the victims and promised justice to them," police said.

Sensing that the opposition may take up the issue as a law and order failure, Janata Dal-United spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said a speedy trial would be conducted in the case.

The girls, accompanied by a male cousin, were returning from Tarachandi temple after offering prayers when the accused accosted them. "The accused forcibly restrained their cousin brother and raped the two in front of him."

He alleged that local police reached the spot two hours after being informed. "Police acted as if nothing happened," he alleged.