Trinamool Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra on Wednesday slammed the West Bengal government over the alleged encounter of Baruipur rape and murder accused, Prabhas Mondal. This is jungle law, Moitra said as she criticised Bengal’s BJP government over the police action.
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“Bengalis please welcome new Bengal- Uttar Pradesh 2.0 @BJP4Bengal is no government. This is jungle law,” Moitra wrote in a post on X.
Mondal, the prime suspect in the alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Baruipur, in South 24 Parganas, was killed in a police encounter, earlier on Wednesday.
Police said he “snatched a firearm from a policeman and tried to escape from custody” during a crime scene reconstruction exercise. The encounter is first such police action since the BJP government assumed office in the Bengal in May. The rape and murder of the minor girl had triggered public outrage and violent protests, putting the police under intense pressure.
TMC leaders criticise Bengal govt
Mondal’s killing in the encounter has triggered sharp criticism from the opposition parties. TMC MP Kirti Azad alleged that Mondal’s encounter was “staged” to prevent the disclosure of internal secrets of the ruling BJP.
“Do you know who Prabhas Mondal is? He is a BJP worker. He possesses a lot of inside information about them–details regarding their plans and preparations. To ensure he doesn’t spill the beans on these internal secrets, it is being staged to look like an encounter took place,” Azad was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
TMC )MP Saugata Roy also condemned the encounter killing and questioned the police’s decision to kill the accused instead of following the legal process.
“I condemn this encounter death. This happened within one day of the Chief Minister and the DGP visiting Baruipur. The rule of law is a casualty. And I don’t know under whose instruction police killed an accused instead of putting him on the docks in court. I am sure that a thorough enquiry will be pursued into this matter,” Roy told ANI.
‘Fear out, trust in’, says Bengal BJP
Meanwhile the ruling BJP hailed the police action with the Bengal unit chief Shamik Bhattacharya asserting that no criminal or rapist will be spared under the current administration. Bhattacharya backed the police action and said the government has fulfilled its electoral promise of “Fear out, Trust in” (Bhoy out, Bhorosa in).
“No criminal will be spared. Before the elections, a promise was made to the women of West Bengal–‘Fear out, Trust in’. This was the Prime Minister’s message. Whatever we had to say in our resolution letter and our manifesto, we have fulfilled,” Bhattacharya was quoted as saying.
He highlighted the leadership of chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, who also holds the Home portfolio, and said the government is acting as per its mandate.
“Currently, Suvendu Adhikari is the CM, and along with that, he is also the Home Minister; so today, the government has taken the step it was supposed to take. The rest is all out in the open before the people of West Bengal,” he added.
Mousumi Kayal, a prominent face of the Kamduni movement against rape of women, on Wednesday hailed the police encounter in which one of the prime accused in the Baruipur rape and murder case was killed, describing it as the “beginning of Asur Vadh” (slaying of the demon).
Reacting to the encounter, Kayal said she was “extremely happy from the heart” when she heard the news, and asserted that such stern measures were necessary to curb the rising incidents of crimes against women in the state.
Calling the encounter “the only justice” for rapists, Kayal advocated a swift and stringent legal process for those accused of such crimes.
Expressing confidence that the “Asur Vadh” would instil fear among potential offenders, Kayal termed the action “praiseworthy” and said it marked a change from the past when, according to her, criminals enjoyed political patronage.
(With ANI inputs)
