KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday said the deaths of two rape-murder accused in alleged gunfights with the police in two districts cannot be termed “encounters”.
An accused arrested in the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl was killed in an alleged gunfight with the police in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas district, early on Tuesday.
A senior police officer said the accused allegedly snatched a police officer’s service revolver and opened fire at personnel during a crime scene reconstruction, prompting retaliatory firing.
This was the second such incident in three months. In July, another accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl was killed in an alleged gunfight with the police in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district. He had also allegedly snatched an officer’s revolver and fired at police personnel during a crime scene reconstruction, leading to retaliatory firing.
Bhattacharya said describing the deaths as “encounters” would be misleading.
“The situation that forced the police to fire at the accused persons in both cases cannot be termed as encounters,” he said.
Claiming that the rule of law prevailed in Bengal, Bhattacharya said this was in contrast to the “law of the ruler” that he alleged had prevailed under the previous government.
A committee appointed by the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal had stated in its report that the “law of the ruler prevailed in the state, not the rule of law”. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) won the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Bhattacharya also claimed that the term “syndicate” had been abolished in the state and that people could now step out without fear.
The BJP had accused the previous TMC government of fostering lawlessness and an atmosphere of fear. During its 2026 Assembly election campaign, the party pledged to restore the rule of law if voted to power.
(With inputs from PTI)