Bengal accused shot dead in encounter

Prabhash Mondol, one of the accused in the gangrape-murder of an 11-year-old in West Bengal’s Baruipur, was shot dead in an encounter after midnight. According to a police statement, a police team took Mondol to the crime scene last night to reconstruct the crime as part of the probe. At the crime scene, police said, the accused snatched the firearm of a policeman, fired one round at the police party and tried to escape. The police opened fire in retaliation. Mondal was injured in the firing and rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead, the police said in the statement.

The Indian Express spoke to Prabhash’s mother, Sandhya, after the encounter. “He got the punishment for the crime he committed,” she said.

Located about 30 km from Kolkata, Baruipur in Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district has been on the edge after the body of an 11-year-old girl was found in a sack on Sunday. An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault and police have registered a case under charges of murder and gangrape. The stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has also been invoked. Four people have been arrested in connection with the heinous crime and a six-member Special Investigation Team is probing the incident.

Three accused, Pravash Mondol, Ananda Sardar and Dibakar Sardar, were arrested earlier. Another accused, Kabir Mollah, was arrested in Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, on Tuesday night.

In a chilling development, a man suspected of being involved in the heinous crime was lynched in Baruipur hours after the 11-year-old’s body was found dumped in a pond. Protesters also blocked roads and set tyres on fire before police brought the situation under control.

Baruipur is on the edge after the rape-murder of an 11-year-old

What Chief Minister said

Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited Baruipur on Monday and met the victim’s family. He stressed that the family was satisfied with the progress of the police probe. “I am satisfied after talking to them, and I think they are also satisfied,” he said. Adhikari also said the man lynched on suspicion of being involved in the crime was innocent. “The youth killed in the mob lynching, Indrajit Mondal, was also innocent. This is what the police told me; these are not my words. He (Mondal) will also get justice. I have met his family members also,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the 200-odd people accused of damaging public property during a protest against the rape-murder had been identified and action will be taken against them. “All of them will be arrested. Not a single person will get respite,” he said. “Those who have instigated from behind, including those rejected by the people in the recent (assembly) elections, those who gained one seat from zero, and also some radical and anti-national forces, have been identified. The government will teach them a proper lesson,” Adhikari said.

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The Chief Minister also responded to allegations that the police delayed the search for the girl after she went missing.

“When we filed a missing person complaint at Baruipur police station, it was around 9 pm on Saturday. Had the police started a search operation then, went through CCTV footage, my daughter could have been found alive,” the minor’s mother had told The Indian Express.

The Chief Minister said he has asked the state’s police chief to submit a report within 72 hours. “If there is any negligence regarding the time taken after the complaint was lodged, even if it is one per cent, action will be taken,” he told reporters.  Police have so far arrested 20 people in connection with the violence during the protests.

Family members of the victim have said they were satisfied after the Chief Minister’s visit. “He listened to us and assured us of justice. We have requested him for a police outpost, and he promised us to look into it,” one of her relatives said.