Bengal: Rape-murder accused killed in police firing; CM says police can retaliate in self-defence

KOLKATA: A man accused of raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district was killed in an exchange of fire with police early on Monday, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari saying that personnel of the force were allowed to retaliate in self-defence.

This was the fourth reported police encounter in West Bengal since the BJP came to power in the state in May.

Officials said the accused, Dilip Roy, allegedly opened fire at a police team conducting a raid to arrest him at a village in Raiganj.

"Police fired in retaliation, injuring the accused. He was taken to Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead," an officer said.

Police had been on the lookout for Roy for four days following the recovery of the girl's naked and partially decomposed body from a forest near the Kulik river.

Upon receiving information that the accused was hiding in the Gouri gram panchayat area, police raided the area. A bullet fired by the accused during the encounter reportedly hit the tyre of a police vehicle.

A police officer said Roy's ancestral home was in Jharkhand, and he was trying to flee West Bengal through the Bihar border.

"We had been searching for the accused for the past four days. Acting on a tip-off received around 2 am on Monday, our team traced him in Parapukur near the Bengal-Bihar border. He opened fire at the police team, who retaliated in self-defence," the senior police officer said.

The 12-year-old girl had gone missing on November 3 after leaving her home on a bicycle in the afternoon, according to her family. Her body was recovered two days later from a forest near the Kulik river. Her kin alleged that she had been raped and murdered.

The officer said Roy had taken his niece to the forest last Tuesday on the pretext of showing her the Kulik river and then allegedly raped the girl before killing her. "Her body was recovered from a forest at Abdulghata on Thursday," he told PTI.

In July, Prabhas Mondal, an accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in South 24 Parganas district's Baruipur, was killed in an encounter. Police had claimed that he snatched a firearm from personnel while being taken to the crime scene for reconstruction and opened fire, forcing them to retaliate in self-defence.

On October 27, Prahlad Das, arrested following the recovery of the naked body of a Class 11 student in North 24 Parganas district's Gaighata, was killed in police firing. He had allegedly attempted to escape during a crime-scene reconstruction exercise. Samaul Haque, arrested for the murder of a BJP worker in Samserganj in Murshidabad district, was also killed in a police encounter the same day.

Talking to reporters in Digha in Purba Medinipur district, Chief Minister Adhikari said, "Do police shoot every accused? When someone attacks police, they retaliate in self-defence."

"The government has given the police a free hand in certain cases, including rape and murder, drug trafficking and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. They have also been told that they need not wait for permission from their superiors to act in such cases. There is absolutely zero tolerance towards these offences," he said.

State minister Dilip Ghosh said those who violated the law will have to face the police.

"If anyone acts against the law, takes the law into their own hands or violates it, they will have to face the police. The police may be compelled to take such action in certain circumstances. Let such situations not arise. Everyone should abide by the law," he said.