KOLKATA: A man accused of raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district was killed in an exchange of fire with police early on Monday, November 11.
The accused, Dilip Roy, allegedly opened fire on a police team that raided a village in Raiganj to arrest him, officers said. Police fired in retaliation and he was taken to Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead.
A senior officer said a tip-off was received around 2 am and the team traced him to Parapukur near the Bengal-Bihar border. "He opened fire at the police team, who retaliated in self-defence," the officer said. A bullet fired by the accused reportedly hit the tyre of a police vehicle. Roy's ancestral home was in Jharkhand and he was reportedly trying to cross into Bihar.
Police had been looking for him for four days after the girl's body was recovered from a forest near the Kulik river at Abdulghata on Thursday, November 5. She had gone missing on November 3 after leaving home on a bicycle, her family said. Officers alleged Roy had taken her to the forest on the pretext of showing her the river.
Reacting to the incident, state minister Dilip Ghosh said those who break the law must face the police. "If anyone acts against the law... they will have to face the police. The police may be compelled to take such action in certain circumstances," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)