Bulandshahr (Uttar Pradesh), Oct 7 (IANS): The Bulandshahr police have arrested a 21-year-old youth who allegedly killed a 16-year-old girl after she spurned his advances.

The girl was killed near a busy highway last week and the incident led to public outrage.

The main accused, Sunil, turned out to be the neighbour of the girl and he had been stalking her for some time.

According to SSP Bulandshahr, Santosh Singh, Sunil had proposed to the girl just before the murder and had asked her for her phone number. But the girl had slapped him.

The accused then roped in his two friends, one of them a 15-year-old boy, to carry out the murder. After killing the Dalit girl, the accused remained in the village pretending as if nothing has happened. He also participated in protests staged by the girl's family.

A few villagers had claimed to have seen a man in 'red shirt' running from the spot which was the only clue the police had.

A senior police officer said that they had managed to close in on the accused after putting over 300 phones on surveillance, tracing locations of phones near the crime spot and interrogating over 100 people.

They questioned the 15-year-old boy who confessed to his crime and also shared the whereabouts of his two other friends who were part of the murder.

"Sunil, had proposed to the girl that day and had asked for her phone number. She slapped him instead. In the fit of rage, Sunil pushed her and she fell on a stone that hit her head causing her death. The three then also tried to strangulate her but fled from the spot as they found that she was already dead," the SSP said.