Her remarks came hours after Prabhas Mondal, one of the prime accused in the case, was shot dead
NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday criticised the West Bengal Police after one of the main accused in the rape and murder of an 12-year-old girl in Baruipur was killed in a police encounter, calling the incident “jungle law”.Reacting to the development on X, Moitra wrote: “Baruipur rape murder accused Prabhash Mondal killed in encounter! What is going on @WBPolice? Bengalis please welcome new Bengal- Uttar Pradesh 2.0 @BJP4Bengal is no government. This js jungle law.” Her remarks came hours after Prabhas Mondal, one of the prime accused in the case, was shot dead during what police described as a crime scene reconstruction exercise in South 24 Parganas district. The encounter is the first such police action since the BJP government assumed office in West Bengal in May.Senior TMC leader Sougata Roy also questioned the encounter, saying, “I condemn this encounter death. This happened within one day of the CM and DGP visiting. I don’t know under whose instructions the police killed an accused instead of putting him in court. I am sure that a throrough inquiry will be done into this.” According to police, Mondal was taken to Surjyapur at around 12.45 am to reconstruct the sequence of events after investigators claimed he had been giving contradictory statements during questioning.A senior police officer said Mondal allegedly snatched a service firearm from a policeman, attempted to flee custody and fired a round at the police team. Officers retaliated in self-defence, leaving him with bullet injuries. He was taken to Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.Mondal was the first person arrested in the case and was considered a key suspect after CCTV footage allegedly showed him with the victim shortly before she disappeared.Meanwhile, another accused, Kabir Molla, was arrested from Basirhat in a joint operation by the STF, Baruipur SOG and district police. With his arrest, the total number of people held in the case has risen to four.The victim’s body was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area on July 5, a day after she went missing. Police allege she was gang-raped, murdered and her body stuffed into a sack before being dumped in the water.The incident triggered widespread protests, with angry residents blocking roads, setting tyres on fire and vandalising police vehicles while demanding swift arrests and strict punishment for those responsible.
