KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday met family members of the alleged rape and murder victim in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
The CM reached the Baruipur police station (PS), where the bereaved family members of the 12-year-old girl were present.
Senior police officials, including Sidhnath Gupta, director general of police (DGP), and the superintendent of police (SP) of the district, were also present at the PS when the CM met the victim’s family members.
Suvendu spoke to them, assuring justice for the victim.
He also met the family members of the 26-year-old deceased person, who was lynched to death by a mob after the body of the minor girl was recovered from a pond at Suryapur Haat in the Baruipur area on Sunday, on suspicion of involvement in the girl’s death.
He has asked the DGP to submit a detailed progress report on the Baruipur case investigation to the government within 72 hours.
“Strong action will be taken if any police officer is found negligent. I have spoken to the family members of the deceased person who was lynched. He was innocent. The victim girl’s family has faith in me,” he said.
He took stock of the progress of the inquiry conducted by the six-member special investigation team (SIT) under the West Bengal Police (WBP) in connection with the rape and murder case.
He also held a meeting with people’s representatives like Ritabrata Banerjee, rebel Trinamool Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, and Sayan Ghosh, dissident party MP from Jadavpur, and Biman Bandyopadhyay, former Speaker in the Assembly and MLA from the local Baruipur constituency, and reviewed the situation in the area.
Earlier in the day, Agnimitra Paul, state urban development and municipal affairs minister in Suvendu Adhikari's cabinet, and BJP leader Locket Chatterjee visited Baruipur and met the parents of the victim.
Trinamool Congress leaders like Seuli Saha and Chandrima Bhattacharya, a former minister in the erstwhile Mamata Banerjee cabinet in the state, led by rebel MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, also visited Baruipur today amid heavy security arrangements at the spot.
Two rebel Trinamool Congress MPs, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Sayani Ghosh, also visited.
Three persons, Ananda Sardar, Prabhas Mondal and Dibakar Sardar, were arrested by police in connection with the incident so far.
Several youngsters, along with an ‘eyewitness’ from the Suryapur Haat area, had recovered the body of the girl from the pond on Sunday.
The victim's body was found stuffed in a sack in the Surjyapur Haat area, triggering a protest by locals who blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road, burnt tyres and damaged a few police vehicles, demanding the arrest of the accused persons. Railway tracks were damaged. Two CRPF jawans were assaulted, and a police vehicle was torched.
Hours after the body was recovered, a man was beaten to death by angry locals on suspicion of involvement in the girl’s death.
Meanwhile, authorities imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Baruipur, Narendrapur and Sonarpur areas of South 24 Parganas to maintain law and order following tensions.
On the other hand, according to police sources, the preliminary findings in the post-mortem revealed injury marks in the girl's private parts, besides scratch and bite marks on her body.
It also indicated that the girl's head had either been struck with a heavy object or banged against a hard surface, the officer said, citing the post-mortem report.
The report suggested that the child was alive when she was thrown into the pond. Water was found in her lungs and stomach during the examination.
The report also suggested that excessive bleeding from the head injury, along with drowning, led to her death. Police have registered a case of gangrape in the Baruipur incident.
The state government has formed a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Pinaki Dutta, additional superintendent of police of South 24 Parganas district, to probe the rape and murder case that has rocked the state.
The opposition parties CPI-M, Congress and Trinamool Congress belonging to the Mamata Banerjee faction have intensified attacks on the newly formed BJP government led by Suvendu Adhikari.
After addressing the birth anniversary programme of Dr Shyamaprasad Mookerjee at Mitra Institution School in the Bhabanipur area on Monday, the CM had told reporters, “I have spoken to the father of the victim girl on Sunday. They will get justice, and the criminals will get capital punishment. I am happy that the family has reposed its trust in the government.”
“I won’t comment on the incident when the inquiry is being conducted by police, but I can assure that the government will take all measures so that the family can get justice for the heinous crime. It's a crime of unspeakable horror,” he had said.
Roopa Ganguly, BJP MLA from Sonarpur Dakshin, “The chief minister has held talks with all of us, and he has briefed us about the incident in detail. He has assured that all culprits involved in the incident will get exemplary punishments and no one will be spared.”
