KOLKATA: A man accused of firing at a police constable was killed in an exchange of fire with police in West Bengal's Birbhum district on Sunday, hours after his arrest. The incident marks the fifth death in a police encounter in the state in the past six months since the BJP government came to power in May.
The deceased, identified as Ratan Sheikh, was arrested from Nababhat in Purba Bardhaman on Sunday afternoon. He was accused of shooting police constable Biswajit Das during a raid at Laikbazar in Shantiniketan, Birbhum, on Friday evening.
According to police sources, the encounter took place at a brick kiln in Charkol village in Nanoor, where Ratan allegedly opened fire at the police team again. Police retaliated, shooting him on the spot. He was taken to the Nanoor health centre, where doctors declared him dead.
Das had sustained a bullet injury to his left leg during Friday's raid. He was initially admitted to Burdwan Medical College Hospital before being shifted to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited him on Saturday and assured that action would be taken against the accused under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
“Police also have the right to live like others. Rifles, revolvers and bullets are given to police not merely to carry these arms in their pockets. These arms will be used at the right moment,” Suvendu had said after meeting the injured constable.
Reacting to Sunday's encounter, the Chief Minister said, “Rapists and murderers have no place in Bengal. Will the police feed them sweets if they shoot at them (police)?”
Police sources said Ratan was allegedly involved in several criminal activities, including illegal possession of firearms and drug smuggling.
This is the second encounter death in the state within a week. On November 9, Dilip Roy, the prime accused in the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl inside Kulik forest in Uttar Dinajpur district, was killed in an exchange of fire with police in the Gourigram panchayat area.
The Chief Minister had defended that encounter, saying police personnel were entitled to retaliate in self-defence. He had also said his government had given the police considerable operational freedom to deal with offences such as rape and murder, drug trafficking and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.
Earlier, on October 27, two accused were killed in separate police encounters in Samserganj in Murshidabad district and Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district.
In Samserganj, Samaun Sheikh, an accused in the murder of Sujit Mondal in Dhuliyan two months earlier, was taken by police to the Old Dakbangla area for crime scene reconstruction. According to police, he allegedly snatched a service revolver from an officer and opened fire while attempting to escape. He was taken to Jangipur Sub-divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was investigating the case, police sources had said.
In Gaighata, Prahlad Das, a 23-year-old accused in the rape and murder of an adolescent girl, was killed in an exchange of fire with police. He had allegedly snatched a service revolver during crime scene reconstruction and fired around three rounds at the police team. One policeman was injured. Prahlad was taken to Chandpara rural hospital, where he was declared dead.
The girl's body, bearing multiple injury marks, had been found near her residence.
The fifth encounter death was that of Prabhas Mondal, the key accused in the rape and murder of a minor girl in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas, in July. He was also killed in an exchange of fire with police.