Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (November 09) defended the killing of a man accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in a police operation in Uttar Dinajpur district, saying police personnel were entitled to retaliate in self-defence.
The accused was shot dead in an exchange of fire near Parapukur, close to the West Bengal-Bihar border in Raiganj, early Monday, police said. Officers said a team had been searching for him for four days and raided the area after receiving a tip-off. The accused allegedly opened fire at the police team, which retaliated.
He was taken to Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Police said the accused was a relative of the child. This newspaper is not naming him to protect the identity of the minor victim.
Speaking to reporters in Digha in Purba Medinipur district, 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.
The latest incident marks the fourth reported police encounter death in West Bengal since the BJP government came to power in May.
In July, Prabhas Mondal, accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl, was killed in a police encounter in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.
On October 27, two other accused were killed in separate police firing incidents. Prahlad Das, accused in a rape-and-murder case, was shot dead in Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district, while Samaul Haque, accused of murdering a BJP worker, was killed in Shamsherganj in Murshidabad district.
The latest killing has renewed debate over police encounters and the use of force.
Retired police officer Salil Bhattacharya told reporters that firing in self-defence was legally permissible but said the incident should also be subjected to a judicial inquiry.
"Encounters should never turn into a tradition, a culture," he said. (With inputs from PTI and media reports)