KOLKATA: West Bengal police on Wednesday said one of the key accused in the alleged rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur was killed in an alleged encounter after he attempted to escape from custody during a crime scene reconstruction exercise.
Prabhas Mondal, one of four accused in the case that has rocked the state, was taken to Suryapur, the alleged crime scene, as part of the ongoing investigation.
According to a police officer, he allegedly snatched a revolver from a policeman at the spot and attempted to flee.
Opposition parties alleged that the Suvendu Adhikari government had followed the example of BJP governments in Assam and Uttar Pradesh by eliminating an accused in a police encounter.
Suvendu Adhikari had met the victim's family at Baruipur police station on Tuesday afternoon. He also held a meeting with senior police officials, including Director General of Police Sidhnath Gupta, to review the progress of the investigation.
Four people, Prabhas Mondal, Ananda Sardar, Dibakar Sardar and Bashir Mallick, were arrested in connection with the case.
The victim's body was found stuffed inside a sack in the Surjyapur Haat area on July 5, triggering protests by residents who blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road. People burnt tyres and damaged police vehicles and demanded the arrest of the accused.
Hours after the body was recovered, a man identified as Indrajit Mondal was beaten to death by an angry mob on suspicion of involvement in the girl's death.
Authorities subsequently imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Baruipur, Narendrapur and Sonarpur areas of South 24 Parganas to maintain law and order amid rising tensions.
According to police sources, the preliminary post-mortem report found injuries to the girl's private parts, along with scratches and bite marks on her body.
The report also indicated that her head had either been struck with a heavy object or banged against a hard surface.
It further revealed that the child was alive when she was thrown into a pond, as water was found in her lungs and stomach. Excessive bleeding from the head injury, along with drowning, was identified as the cause of death.
Police had registered a case of gang rape and murder in connection with the incident.
The state government has constituted a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Superintendent of Police Pinaki Dutta of South 24 Parganas, to investigate the case.
West Bengal's political landscape witnessed a fresh war of words on Wednesday over the alleged encounter killing, with the BJP describing it as "divine justice" and the Trinamool Congress condemning it as "jungle law".
Using the development, the BJP also renewed its demand for reopening the 2013 Kamduni gang rape and murder case, arguing that justice remained incomplete.
"The demon Prabhas Mondal, who raped and killed a girl in Baruipur, was killed in police firing during the early hours of Tuesday after he tried to flee with firearms. Divine justice!" BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said in a post on X.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra questioned the role of the West Bengal Police over the killing, which police claimed resulted from retaliatory firing in self-defence.
In a post on social media, Moitra said, "Baruipur rape murder accused Prabhas Mondal killed in encounter! What is going on @WBPolice? Bengalis, please welcome new Bengal-Uttar Pradesh 2.0. BJP4Bengal is no government. This is jungle law."
The encounter, the first such police action since the BJP government assumed office in May, came amid mounting public outrage over the crime, which had sparked violent protests and placed the police under intense pressure.
"I condemn the encounter death of the Baruipur accused Prabhas Mondal. It shows that the government has no control over the police. This is the worst form of police brutality," veteran TMC MP Saugata Roy told reporters.
Chief Minister Adhikari on Tuesday directed Director General of Police Siddh Nath Gupta to submit a report in the case of the rape-murder of a minor in Baruipur within 72 hours, and said that the person who was lynched by a mob in the aftermath of the incident was innocent.
Adhikari also said that action will be taken against around 200 identified people, who allegedly vandalised public property, damaged police vehicles and railway tracks during the protest.