ONE of the prime accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in West Bengal’s Baruipur was killed in an alleged encounter early on Wednesday after he “snatched a firearm from a policeman and tried to escape from custody” during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, a senior officer said. The encounter -- the first such police action since the BJP Government assumed office in the State in May -- came amid mounting public outrage over the crime, which had sparked violent protests and put the police under intense pressure. The accused, Prabhas Mondal, was the first person arrested in the case and considered one of the key suspects after multiple CCTV footage purportedly showed him with the girl shortly before she had gone missing. According to a senior police officer, Mondal was taken to Surjyapur in South 24 Parganas district around 12.45 am as investigators attempted to reconstruct the sequence of events after alleging that he had been misleading the probe and giving contradictory statements. “During the exercise, he suddenly snatched a service firearm from a policeman and attempted to escape. He also fired one round at the police team. The police retaliated in self-defence, in which he sustained bullet injuries,” the officer said. Mondal was taken to the Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. A magisterial inquest will be performed on the deceased following which the body will be sent for autopsy, police sources said. 

A team of police personnel visited the encounter site this morning and recorded videographic evidence of the alleged exchange of fire.

 

Investigators claimed that Mondal was an accomplice to the brutal rape and murder of the minor and had taken her to her assailants, all of whom have now been arrested, after he was allegedly promised Rs 10,000 for the job. Mondal, they said, had taken the girl to a secluded location after she had left her home to buy a birthday gift for her friend before overpowering her with the help of the other attackers. In a striking reaction, his mother, Sandhya Mondal, refused to claim the body, saying he had met the consequences of his actions. “He got what he deserved for what he did,” she told reporters after the police informed her of Prabhas’ death early on Wednesday. She said the police had come to her house, confirmed her son’s identity and asked whether she wanted to see him. “I don’t want to see his face. I will not go to claim the body, and nobody from the family will either,” she said. The grieving mother also alleged that her son had long been addicted to intoxicants and had never listened to her advice. Meanwhile, the police arrested another accused, Kabir Molla, from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district in a joint operation by the STF, Baruipur SOG and the district police. The police said Molla had been absconding since the crime. He was brought to Baruipur for interrogation, taking the total number of arrests in the rape-murder case to four. Besides Mondal, Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sardar had earlier been arrested. All three suspects were made to sit face to face at the Baruipur police station and interrogated by the investigators on Tuesday. The statement of the victim’s mother was also recorded.