Agartala, Sep 28 (IANS): Tripura Police has rescued the 16-year-old Muslim girl, who tied the nuptial knot with a Hindu youth and then remained missing for 66 days, police said on Tuesday.

Western Tripura's Sepahijala District Superintendent of police Krishnendu Chakraborty said that a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Das rescued the girl and detained the youth Suman Sarkar from Dharmanagar late on Monday night.

"With the permission of the Tripura High Court, the next course of action about the girl and the youth would be taken," the district police chief told IANS.

Police have learnt that the girl is now around two months pregnant.

Police, however, so far arrested five people including Tapan Debnath, a Hindutva organisation leader, in connection with the incident.

"The girl, a class 9 student from Bishalgarh following love affairs, willingly married 23-year-old youth Suman Sarkar and converted into Hindu. The couple remained untraceable since July 24. Police continued a massive search operation across the state for over two months to trace the duo," Chakraborty said.

The police authority had earlier handed over the case to the Crime Branch. After the police initially did not take any action to rescue the girl, her father Dulal Miah filed a complaint with the High Court.

The division bench of the Tripura High Court comprising Chief Justice Akil Kumar Kureshi and Justice Satya Gopal Chattopadhyay, had directed the police to find out the girl and report to the court at the earliest.

The incident has been widely debated in various political and non-political circles in the northeastern state after the teenager Muslim girl married a Hindu youth and then remained missing for 66 days.