The arrestees were identified as Shariful Islam, 21, Asadullah, 20, Kamrul, 18, Naim, 18, of the area, and Riaz, 18, of Bagerhat and Sohel, 18, of Satkhira.
Md Nur Alam Siddiqui, Additional SP of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP), said they conducted drives from Thursday midnight to Friday noon in Rupsha upazila, Satkhira and Bagerhat to arrest them.
The 16-year-old victim, a ninth grader madrasa student in Bagerhat’s Morrelganj upazila, is receiving treatment at the One-Stop Crisis Centre of Khulna Medical College Hospital.
She recently came to Khulna’s Sonadanga to meet her mother. On Wednesday, she went to meet her lover Niamul, a resident of Morrelganj, at Shahid Hadis Park with her eight-year-old cousin.
Niamul took the girl to a garden in Shreefaltola where some of his associates were waiting. He and two others took the girl to an abandoned house and raped her while others took her cousin to a nearby area for sightseeing.
The victim’s mother informed Rupsha Police Station about her daughter’s ordeal on Thursday. A case was filed at the police station on Friday.
“We’re trying to arrest the main accused,” the ASP added.