Bengal rape-murder accused killed in alleged police encounter

A 23-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl was killed in an alleged gunfight with police in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. Police said he snatched an officer's revolver during crime scene reconstruction.

Kolkata: A man arrested in the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl was allegedly killed in a gunfight with the police in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday, the second such incident in three months, a senior officer said.

The incident took place around 2.50 am in Gaighata, where the accused, Prahlad Das, was taken for reconstruction of the crime scene, she said.

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Suddenly, he snatched the service revolver of a police officer and opened fire at the personnel, leading to retaliatory firing in which the 23-year-old man sustained gunshot wounds, she said.

The accused was taken to a nearby Chandpara Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the officer said, adding that the body had been sent for post-mortem examination.

“Our officers had taken the accused to his house to recover the clothes he wore at the time of the crime. While returning, he wanted to relieve himself. He then snatched a service revolver of a police officer and opened fire, prompting the police to retaliate,” the officer said.

The circumstances under which the accused managed to snatch the officer’s revolver and the sequence of events leading to the firing are likely to be probed, she said.

No policemen were injured in the firing by the accused, but the vehicle in which he was taken for reconstruction of the crime scene was slightly damaged, the officer said, adding that the vehicle would undergo forensic examination.

“One of the policemen got minor injuries when he jumped from the vehicle and was provided some basic treatment,” she said.

The accused’s family members reached the hospital and expressed anger over the alleged police encounter.

The deceased girl’s parents, however, lauded the police personnel for their action.

“We are happy with the police action, but we will never get our daughter back,” the teenager’s mother said, adding that the accused was known to the family.

The girl’s father echoed the same sentiment and said the “police action will not be able to fill up the void in our lives”.

A large police force has been deployed in the area to maintain law and order, and the spot where the alleged firing occurred has been cordoned off, the officer said.

The man was arrested for allegedly raping and killing the Class 11 student, whose body was found outside a neighbour’s house in Gaighata on Sunday morning.

The girl had gone to attend a musical programme near her home on Saturday night.

According to the police, the girl had left the venue after receiving a phone call and had not returned home.

The encounter in Gaighata was the second such incident in three months, following the death of an accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in an alleged gunfight in July.

He had allegedly snatched an officer’s revolver and opened fire on the personnel during crime scene reconstruction at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, prompting the police to retaliate.

Reacting to the Gaighata incident, senior BJP leader and state Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh said the police must take stringent measures to regain public trust in Bengal, where, he alleged, law and order had deteriorated under the TMC regime.

“Nobody is above the law. If someone takes the law into his own hands, this would be the consequence. The police have to deliver justice to the people. Bengal’s people had lost faith in the police force. To regain their trust, the police have to take stringent steps that may not be liked by many,” Ghosh added.