Raiganj (West Bengal). Dilip Roy, accused of rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in North Dinajpur district of West Bengal, died in a police encounter in the early hours of Monday. Police claim that the accused had opened fire on the team that arrived for the arrest, after which he was injured in retaliation. He was taken to Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. This is said to be the fourth such encounter after the formation of BJP government in the state.
Police was searching for the accused for four days
According to the police, the 12-year-old girl had left home on a bicycle on November 3, but did not return. Two days later, on 5 November, his body was found in the Abdulghata forest near the Kulik River. The condition of the dead body was very bad. Since then the police was busy searching for the accused Dilip Roy.
Investigation revealed that the accused was a relative of the girl. Police allege that he took the girl to the forest on the pretext of showing her the Kulik River, where she was raped and murdered. Family members had also made allegations against him in this case.
Encounter took place near Bihar border
According to police officials, information was received around 2 am on Monday that Dilip Roy was hiding in Parapukur area of Gauri Gram Panchayat area of Raiganj. He was trying to exit the state through Bihar border. The police team cordoned off the area and tried to catch him.
Police claim that when surrounded, the accused started firing on the team. During this time, a bullet also hit the tire of the police vehicle. Dilip was injured in retaliatory firing. He was rushed to the hospital, but his life could not be saved.
Three more encounters since July
After the formation of BJP government in West Bengal, three other accused have also died in police encounters since July. In July, Prabhas Mandal, accused of rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, was killed in police action in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas.
After this, on October 27, Prahlad Das, accused of murder of a class 11 student in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas, and Samul Haq, accused of murder of a BJP worker in Samserganj, Murshidabad, were killed in separate encounters. In these cases also, the police had claimed firing by the accused and retaliatory action.
Chief Minister defended police action
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, reacting to the Raiganj incident, said that in case of an attack on the police, the soldiers have the right to retaliate in self-defense. He said that the police have been given freedom to act in serious cases like rape, murder, drug trafficking and illegal infiltration.
At the same time, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy raised questions on the encounter and termed it as immediate punishment instead of judicial process. He said that any accused should face trial in the court and if proven guilty, should be punished as per the law.
Now the political debate has also intensified regarding the continuous encounters in West Bengal. On one hand, the government is terming the police action as self-defense and strict action against crimes, while the opposition parties are raising the need for fair investigation and judicial process under the law.