In a Bengal encounter, a rape-murder suspect was killed, CM defends police action

A man charged with raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal was shot dead in a gunfight with police early Monday, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stating that officers were permitted to defend themselves.

Authorities reported that the suspect, Dilip Roy, supposedly shot at a police unit performing a raid to apprehend him in a village located in Raiganj. Authorities had been searching for Roy for four days after the discovery of the girl’s nude and partly decomposed body in a forest close to the Kulik river.

After learning that the accused was concealed in the Gouri gram panchayat region, police conducted a raid in the area. A shot discharged by the suspect during the clash allegedly struck the tire of a police car. A police officer mentioned that Roy’s family home was in Jharkhand, and he was attempting to escape from West Bengal via the Bihar border.

“We had been searching for the accused for the past four days. Acting on a tip-off received around 2 am on Monday, our team traced him in Parapukur near the Bengal-Bihar border. He opened fire at the police team, who retaliated in self-defence,” the senior police officer said.

Since the BJP took control of the state in May, there have been four documented police encounters in West Bengal. Prabhas Mondal, a suspect in the rape and killing of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district, was murdered in a confrontation in July. According to police, he stole a gun from staff members when they were being transported to the crime scene for reconstruction and started shooting, prompting them to defend themselves.

Prahlad Das was shot and killed by police on October 27 after being detained after a Class 11 student’s nude body was found in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas district. During a crime-scene reconstruction exercise, he allegedly made an attempt to flee. Samaul Haque, arrested for the murder of a BJP worker in Samserganj in Murshidabad district, was also killed in a police encounter the same day.

Chief Minister Adhikari said, “Do police shoot every accused? When someone attacks police, they retaliate in self-defence.”

“The government has given the police a free hand in certain cases, including rape and murder, drug trafficking and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. They have also been told that they need not wait for permission from their superiors to act in such cases. There is absolutely zero tolerance towards these offences,” he said.

State minister Dilip Ghosh said those who violated the law will have to face the police.

“If anyone acts against the law, takes the law into their own hands or violates it, they will have to face the police. The police may be compelled to take such action in certain circumstances. Let such situations not arise. Everyone should abide by the law,” he said.