KOLKATA: The 23-year-old accused in the rape and murder of an adolescent girl in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district was killed in a police encounter on Monday night.
Police claimed that the accused, Prahlad Das, fired at policemen first on Monday night, prompting the latter to launch a counterattack by shooting at him. Prahlad died at a nearby hospital.
The encounter happened in Gaighata in the district, where the girl’s naked body, bearing multiple injury marks, was found lying close to her residence on Sunday morning. Police also claimed they shot at him to save themselves at the spot.
With the Gaighata incident, West Bengal recorded its second encounter case after the Baruipur incident in South 24 Parganas, in which the key accused, Prabhas Mondal, in the rape and murder of a minor girl in July was also killed in a police encounter.
According to police sources in North 24 Parganas, the accused, Prahlad Das, was taken to the place where the rape and murder of the adolescent girl had occurred for the reconstruction of the incident in Gaighata. But he suddenly snatched a revolver from one of the police personnel who were present at the spot during the reconstruction process and fired around three rounds at them, the sources said, adding that one policeman sustained injuries.
As an act of self-defence, the police launched a counterattack and fired four rounds at him. The accused sustained bullet injuries and was rushed to the Chandpara hospital close to the India-Bangladesh border, where he was declared dead.
On Sunday morning, the naked body of the girl, bearing multiple injury marks, was found lying behind the residence of her neighbour in Gaighata.
Prahlad, her relative, was arrested by the police later on Sunday.
After a preliminary investigation, the police suspected that the girl, who was a Class XI student, might have been raped and murdered.
According to local sources, the girl, along with her family members, friends and relatives, had gone to see a musical show in the area close to her residence on Saturday night.
Family members claimed that she received a phone call from someone around 11.30 pm and left the venue of the show but did not return. With sheer anxiety, they conducted search operations in the nearby areas throughout the night.
They recovered her body, bearing multiple injury marks, lying behind the house of her neighbour.
One of her relatives, who had gone to see the programme, said on Sunday, “We came back home and heard that she didn’t come back home. I tried to contact her over mobile, but it was in ‘call waiting’ mode. We thought that it might be a network problem and went to sleep. We got the unexpected sad news this morning.”
Bidisha Kalita, superintendent of police of Bongaon police district, had told reporters, “The body of an adolescent girl was recovered from the Gaighata area on Sunday morning.
Based on the complaint lodged by her family members with the Gaighata police station, a case has been registered. Preliminary investigation reveals that she might have been raped and murdered.
The body has been sent for post-mortem, and we can confirm the cause of her death and the injury marks after getting the autopsy report.”
Local MLA Subrata Thakur from Gaighata had told the media, “We strongly condemn the incident. One person has been arrested, and exemplary punishment must be given to the person or persons who are found to be involved in the heinous incident.”
