PTI
Kolkata
Two men accused in separate murder and rape-murder cases were killed in alleged gunfights with law enforcers in West Bengal on Tuesday, some 12 hours apart, after they purportedly snatched firearms from officers and opened fire during crime-scene reconstruction, police said.
The incidents occurred in North 24 Parganas and Murshidabad districts, drawing attention to two separate investigations – the rape and murder of a 17-year-old schoolgirl and the killing of a BJP worker and dismemberment of his body.
Both cases had triggered public outrage, with the latter also leading to allegations of police negligence and the suspension of several officers.
In the first incident, a 23-year-old man arrested for the alleged rape and murder of the class 11 student was killed in a gunfight with police at Gaighata in North 24 Parganas around 2.50 am, a senior officer said. The accused had been taken to his house to recover the clothes he had allegedly worn during the crime. While returning, he asked to relieve himself and then allegedly snatched a police officer’s service revolver and opened fire, prompting retaliatory firing, the officer said.
He sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to Chandpara Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was sent for post-mortem.
The officer said no police personnel were injured in the firing by the accused, though one policeman suffered minor injuries while jumping out of the police vehicle and received basic treatment. The girl’s parents welcomed the police action but said it could not undo their loss.
In the second incident, Samayun Sheikh, the prime accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal, was killed in an alleged gunfight with CID personnel in Murshidabad district around 2.45 pm, a senior officer of the agency said. Sheikh had been taken to the Old Dak Bungalow area under the jurisdiction of Samserganj police station to recreate the sequence of events leading to Mondal’s murder when he allegedly attempted to flee by snatching an officer’s firearm and opening fire on the CID team.
“In retaliatory firing, he sustained gunshot wounds and was taken to Jangipur Sub-divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” the officer told PTI.
The incident triggered tension in the area, prompting the deployment of a large police contingent to maintain law and order, he added.
