Bengal: Key accused in Baruipur rape-murder case killed in police encounter

KOLKATA: One of the prime accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal's Baruipur was killed in an alleged encounter early on Wednesday after he "snatched a firearm from a policeman and tried to escape from custody" during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, a senior officer said.

The encounter -- the first such police action since the BJP government assumed office in the state in May -- came amid mounting public outrage over the crime, which had sparked violent protests and put the police under intense pressure.

The accused, Prabhas Mondal, was the first person arrested in the case and considered one of the key suspects after CCTV footage purportedly showed him with the girl shortly before she had gone missing.

According to a senior police officer, Mondal was taken to Surjyapur in South 24 Parganas district around 12.45 am as investigators attempted to reconstruct the sequence of events after alleging that he had been misleading the probe and giving contradictory statements.

"During the exercise, he suddenly snatched a service firearm from a policeman and attempted to escape. He also fired one round at the police team. The police retaliated in self-defence, in which he sustained bullet injuries," the officer said.

Mondal was taken to the Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

In a striking reaction, his mother Sandhya Mondal refused to claim the body, saying he had met the consequences of his actions.

"He got what he deserved for what he did," she told reporters after the police informed her of his death early on Wednesday.

She said the police had come to her house, confirmed her son's identity and asked whether she wanted to see him.

"I don't want to see his face. I will not go to claim the body, and nobody from the family will either," she said.

The grieving mother also alleged that her son had long been addicted to intoxicants and had never listened to her advice.

Meanwhile, the police arrested another accused, Kabir Molla, from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district in a joint operation by the STF, Baruipur SOG and the district police.

The police said Molla had been absconding since the crime. He was brought to Baruipur for interrogation, taking the total number of arrests in the rape-murder case to four. Besides Mondal, Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sardar had earlier been arrested.

The body of the girl, who had gone missing on July 4, was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area the next day.

It was alleged that she was gang-raped and murdered before being stuffed into a sack and dumped in the water.

The incident triggered widespread outrage, with angry residents blocking the Baruipur-Joynagar Road, setting tyres ablaze and vandalising police vehicles while demanding immediate arrests and exemplary punishment for those responsible.

Hours after the girl's body was recovered, a man was lynched by a mob on suspicion of involvement in the crime.

The state government later said the mob attack victim was innocent.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited Baruipur on Tuesday and held a high-level review meeting with senior police officers, had directed DGP Siddh Nath Gupta to submit a report in the rape-murder case within 72 hours and asserted that his government would follow a "zero tolerance" policy towards such crimes.

He also announced that the police had identified around 200 people from video footage for allegedly being involved in the violence and vandalism during the protests.

The police said 20 people have so far been arrested in connection with the attacks on personnel and damage to public property, adding that action would continue against all those found involved.