Kolkata, Oct 27 (PTI) Two men accused in separate murder and rape-murder cases were killed in alleged gunfights with law enforcers in West Bengal on Tuesday, some 12 hours apart, after they purportedly snatched firearms from officers and opened fire during crime-scene reconstruction, police said.
The incidents occurred in North 24 Parganas and Murshidabad districts, drawing attention to two separate investigations — the rape and murder of a 17-year-old schoolgirl and the killing of a BJP worker and dismemberment of his body.
Both cases had triggered public outrage, with the latter also leading to allegations of police negligence and the suspension of several officers.
In the first incident, a 23-year-old man arrested for the alleged rape and murder of the class 11 student was killed in a gunfight with police at Gaighata in North 24 Parganas around 2.50 am, a senior officer said.
The accused had been taken to his house to recover the clothes he had allegedly worn during the crime. While returning, he asked to relieve himself and then allegedly snatched a police officer’s service revolver and opened fire, prompting retaliatory firing, the officer said.
He sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to Chandpara Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was sent for post-mortem.
The officer said no police personnel were injured in the firing by the accused, though one policeman suffered minor injuries while jumping out of the police vehicle and received basic treatment. The vehicle was also damaged and will undergo forensic examination.
The circumstances under which the accused allegedly managed to seize the revolver and the sequence of events leading to the firing are likely to be probed, the officer said.
The schoolgirl’s body was found outside a neighbour’s house in Gaighata on Sunday morning. She had gone to attend a musical programme near her home on Saturday night but reportedly left the venue after receiving a phone call and did not return.
The girl’s parents welcomed the police action but said it could not undo their loss.
“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.
Her father said that the “police action will not be able to fill the void in our lives”.
The accused’s family members, meanwhile, reached the hospital and expressed anger over the alleged encounter. A large police contingent was deployed in the area to prevent further tension.
In the second incident, Samayun Sheikh, the prime accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal, was killed in an alleged gunfight with CID personnel in Murshidabad district around 2.45 pm, a senior officer of the agency said.
Sheikh had been taken to the Old Dak Bungalow area under the jurisdiction of Samserganj police station to recreate the sequence of events leading to Mondal’s murder when he allegedly attempted to flee by snatching an officer’s firearm and opening fire on the CID team.
“In retaliatory firing, he sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to Jangipur Sub-divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” the officer told PTI.
The incident triggered tension in the area, prompting the deployment of a large police contingent to maintain law and order, he added.
Mondal, a resident of Samserganj, went missing on August 28. His body parts were subsequently recovered. Investigators concluded that he had been murdered and his body chopped into pieces.
The killing had sparked anger among his family members and locals, who accused the police of negligence and inaction.
Several police officers were suspended over alleged lapses, while the then inspector-in-charge of Samserganj police station was transferred. The investigation was subsequently handed over to the CID, which arrested Sheikh as the prime accused.
Tuesday’s incident in Gaighata was the second such case in three months involving an accused in a rape-and-murder case in West Bengal.
In July, a man accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was killed in an alleged gunfight during crime-scene reconstruction at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
Police had similarly claimed that the accused snatched an officer’s revolver and opened fire, prompting retaliatory shooting.
Reacting to Tuesday’s developments, senior BJP leader and state Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh said the police must take stringent measures to restore public confidence in the force.
“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. People of West Bengal 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 said. PTI SCH BSM ACD BDC SMY ACD
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