West Bengal police shot dead the accused in the Gaighata Class 11 student rape and murder case. Prahlad Das snatched a cop’s gun during evidence collection and tried to run away when police fired at him. This marks the second police encounter in Bengal in the last three months.
A 23-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a 17-year-old Class 11 student was killed in an alleged police encounter in Gaighata, West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, early on Tuesday. Police said the accused, identified as Prahlad Das, snatched a Sub-Inspector’s service revolver and opened fire while being taken to the crime scene for evidence collection.
The incident occurred around 2.50 am when a police team took Das to his house to recover the clothes he had allegedly worn during the crime. According to a senior police officer, he snatched the officer’s revolver while the team was returning and fired at the personnel. Police retaliated, leaving him critically injured. Das was taken to Chandpara Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was sent for a post-mortem examination.
Police officer injured, vehicle damaged
According to police, no personnel were injured by the shots allegedly fired by Das. However, one policeman suffered minor injuries when he jumped from the vehicle during the incident and received basic medical treatment. The police vehicle was also damaged and is expected to undergo forensic examination.
The officer said the circumstances in which Das managed to seize the revolver, along with the sequence of events leading to the firing, would likely be investigated.
Following the incident, a large police force was deployed in the area to maintain law and order. The location of the alleged encounter was cordoned off.
Das’s family members reached the hospital and expressed anger over the circumstances of his death. The victim’s parents, however, supported the police action while acknowledging that it could not bring their daughter back.
“We are happy with the police action, but we will never get our daughter back,” the girl’s mother said. Her father also said the action would not fill the void left by their daughter’s death.
Class 11 student found dead near neighbour’s house
The case began on Saturday night, when the 17-year-old girl left home to attend a musical programme near her residence in Gaighata. According to police, she left the venue after receiving a phone call but did not return home.
Search efforts followed, and her body was found outside a neighbour’s house on Sunday morning. Police registered a case and arrested Das within hours. He was reportedly known to the victim’s family, and a local court remanded him to 10 days of police custody.
Police took him to the location as part of the investigation and to recover evidence linked to the alleged crime.
Second alleged police encounter in three months
The Gaighata incident is the second such case in West Bengal in three months. In July, a man accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was killed in an alleged police encounter in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district.
Police had said that the accused in that case also snatched an officer’s revolver and fired during a crime scene reconstruction exercise, prompting retaliatory firing.
Reacting to the latest incident, senior BJP leader and state Rural Development Minister Dilip Ghosh said the police needed to take stringent steps to restore public trust in the force. He alleged that law and order had deteriorated under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.
Ghosh said nobody was above the law and argued that the police needed to deliver justice to regain people’s confidence.
The circumstances surrounding Das’s death, including how he allegedly obtained the officer’s weapon, remain an important part of the investigation.
(With inputs from agencies)