Bengal's first ‘fake encounter’ in decades puts Suvendu on back foot

Death in a so-called police 'encounter' has been rarely reported in West Bengal since 1977. Indeed, people are hard put to recall a fake encounter since 2000. In the early hours of Monday, 8 July, however, the chain broke when police claimed to have killed one of the key witnesses and accused in the Baruipur rape and murder case, allegedly as he tried to escape from custody.

It was a "fake encounter" carried out to silence a crucial witness, asserts human rights activist Sujato Bhadra in Kolkata. "When small-time politicians are being paraded by police with ropes tied to their waist in broad daylight, what explains how a key rape and murder accused tried to escape from police custody and even managed to snatch a firearm from the police?” he asks. Questioning the police's claim that the escape attempt was made at 12.45 am at the site of the crime — a village pond — he scathingly asks why the police felt it necessary to reconstruct the crime in the dead of the night.

The encounter appears suspect because the deceased, Probhas Mondal, was rounded up by local residents on the morning of Sunday, 5 July after scanning CCTV footage of commercial outlets in a crowded market area. The deceased — an 11-year-old girl — was seen walking with Mondal, a rickshaw puller the family knew, on Saturday afternoon when she went out to buy a birthday gift for a friend. Mondal was handed over to the police on Sunday morning and claimed that he was innocent, that four other people had abducted the girl at gunpoint, possibly to demand ransom. He identified one of them and said the others were unknown to him.

Why take him to the scene of the alleged crime, the pond from where people recovered the body of the child on Sunday morning itself, three days later and that too late at night?

What has added to the intrigue are allegations that at least some of the suspects were known supporters of the BJP, which came to power in Bengal barely two months ago. The presence of Central armed paramilitary forces deployed in the state by Union home minister Amit Shah in the area since Sunday also raised questions as to whether the CAPF had accompanied the police when the accused tried to escape.  

"There is a ruling by the Supreme Court that if a person is killed by police in an encounter, a murder case has to be filed against the police," says Bhadra. Drawing a historical parallel, he adds, "As in the case of Idris Ali Miya, who was killed in Lalbazar police custody after the killing of DC Port Vinod Mehta in 1984, the judicial commission headed by Samarendranath Dey ruled that Miya was killed because he knew details that could implicate the police itself. This one, too, appears to be a cold-blooded killing."

In a video clip that surfaced on social media and was shared by Trinamool Congress (TMC) loyal to Mamata Banerjee, Mondal is seen chatting with policemen inside the local police station, possibly on Sunday. He is heard answering questions readily enough, and naming one of the culprits as ‘Raja’. The TMC has claimed that the culprits were known BJP workers and has questioned why the said ‘Raja’ had not yet been arrested.  

Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had already added a communal colour by stating that violent protests by Baruipur residents against the police on Sunday reminded him of anti-CAA protests. Alleging that those who had lost power in the recent election were trying to foment communal tension, the victim being a Muslim and the accused being Hindus. He also castigated the mob lynching on Sunday of one of the suspects, an auto rickshaw driver, whose vehicle was allegedly used in the abduction.  

Bhadra and other human rights activists have questioned Adhikari's clean chit to the man who was lynched, and his announcement of capital punishment for those guilty of the rape and murder. "How can a chief minister pronounce capital punishment? The loaded message from him appears to have encouraged the police to kill Mondal,” they suggested.

Bhadra and others also say the fake encounter, like the bulldozers used days after the BJP government took over in West Bengal, is symptomatic of what happened in Uttar Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, and called for an independent investigation.

On social media, TMC MP Mahua Moitra strongly condemned the police action. 'Baruipur rape murder accused Prabhash Mondal killed in encounter! What is going on WB Police? Bengalis please welcome new Bengal – Uttar Pradesh 2.0. BJP is no government. This is jungle law,' she wrote.

TMC MP Sougata Roy also posted, 'I condemn this encounter death. This happened within one day of the Chief Minister and DGP visiting. I don't know under whose instructions the police killed an accused instead of producing him before a court. I am sure that a thorough inquiry will be conducted into this". 

Ironically, the 'rebel' or Ritabrata Banerjee TMC faction, widely perceived to be a government-sponsored opposition bloc, defended the police action. MLA Shiuli Saha of the faction said, "The law provides for encounters. If a criminal attacks the police while attempting to flee, an encounter can take place. We place our trust in the state government's version of events. We want rapists to face the ultimate punishment,” adding significantly, "Encounters must remain under government control."