2 accused killed in Bengal encounters in 24 hours, police say they snatched guns

Two men, one accused of a BJP worker's murder and another of a minor girl's rape and murder, have been killed in separate encounters with police in West Bengal in the past 24 hours.

Prahlad Das, accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl in Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, was shot dead in an encounter late on Monday, police said. Hours later, the police said Samaul Sheikh, who was accused of murdering BJP worker Sujit Mondal, was shot dead in a gunfight with police in Murshidabad on Tuesday evening.

2 encounters, many parallels

According to the police, in both incidents, the accused were taken for crime scene reconstruction when they snatched firearms from the police teams accompanying them and were killed in retaliatory firing.

Police sources said a Class 11 student went missing from her home in North 24 Parganas on Saturday. Her body was found near her neighbour's house on Sunday. Police later arrested Das (23) for allegedly raping and murdering the 13-year-old.

Late on Monday, a police team took Das for crime scene reconstruction. According to police, while returning from the crime scene, Das snatched a service revolver from a police officer and opened fire at the police team. One policeman had to jump into a pond to save himself, the police said. The police personnel retaliated and shot Das. He was rushed to the Bongaon superspeciality hospital, where he was declared dead. His body has been sent for post-mortem.

This is the second incident in which a rape-murder accused has been killed in an encounter with police in Bengal since July. On July 8, Prabhas Mondol, the accused in the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district, was shot dead in an encounter. Police said Mondol snatched a policeman's weapon when he was taken for crime scene reconstruction and fired at the police party. He was killed in retaliatory firing, police said.

The second encounter in the last 24 hours took place at Samsherganj, Murshidabad. Samaul Sheikh, in his 40s, was an accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal, whose dismembered body was found on August 28 this year.

According to police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials were taking Sheikh for crime scene reconstruction when he tried to snatch a service weapon and escape. He was shot in retaliatory firing and declared dead at a local hospital.

Surinder Singh, Superintendent of Police at Jangipur, said, "CID is investigating the case. The accused was taken to the place of occurrence for crime reconstruction. The incident took place there. The accused was declared brought dead at Anupnagar hospital. The body has been brought to the Jangipur sub-divisional hospital for post-mortem."

Earlier, while reacting to the North 24 Parganas encounter, Bengal minister and former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said it will instil fear among criminals. "It happened in South 24 Parganas and now here. Police have to give justice to the victims. Sometimes, police have to do unpleasant tasks," he said. "Criminals don't fear easily. This is because of years of no law and order in Bengal. But this will instil fear in the hearts of criminals."

Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Ray demanded an explanation from the government. "This is the second case, following the one in Baripur, where an accused has been killed in an encounter. This is entirely the fault of the police; the government must provide a clear explanation, and an inquiry should be conducted," he said earlier.

A naked parade, and police redux

The two encounters in Bengal have taken place on a day when police forced people accused in a case of vigilantism to walk on a Kolkata street in their undergarments.

The parade was a chilling follow-up to an incident of vigilantism in Kolkata, in which a minor boy and his father were paraded naked because the teenager reportedly kissed a 13-year-old girl. On Tuesday, videos showing the accused walking barefoot with ropes tied around their waist circulated on social media. Kolkata Police officers were seen flanking them. The accused were arrested on Monday.

Police have not issued an official statement about the parading yet. A senior police officer said, "They were being taken to reconstruct the crime scene."