The mother of the three children who were allegedly raped and murdered near Bhandara in Maharashtra last month has demanded a CBI probe into the incident.

The victims' mother told HT, the police had failed to arrest the culprits even after a fortnight and "now they are saying that the girls were not raped".

The three sisters from a village in Bhandara district, some 150 km from Nagpur, had gone missing on February 14. Two days later their bodies were found in a well. The post mortem report had said the children - aged 6, 9 and 11 - were raped and murdered.

But the forensic report has not been able to conclusively establish the same. Police are now waiting for a second opinion. However, home minister, Sushilkumar Shinde rejected the demand.

Bhandara's additional SP, Vasant Jadhav, who is heading the probe, said four suspects were being interrogated, but asked about the forensic report, he said, "I am only investigating the matter".