A rape-and-murder suspect died after being shot by police during what authorities described as an attempt to seize a service weapon and escape while officers were reconstructing the crime in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas. The incident took place late on Monday night, a day after the suspect was arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old girl.
According to police sources cited by Anandabazar, officers took Prahlad Das to the site for a reconstruction of the incident shortly before midnight. The location was about four kilometres from the Bangladesh border. While the police team was returning through the Baidyabari area, Das reportedly asked the officers to stop so he could urinate.
Police alleged that Das then seized a firearm from one of the officers and fired three rounds while trying to flee. One bullet reportedly struck the police vehicle. The police account also said that one officer was injured and another jumped into a roadside pond during the initial response. Officers subsequently fired four rounds in self-defence, hitting Das in the left leg and chest.
Das was taken to Chandpara Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. The report said three bullets hit him in total. Police later took his body from the hospital, while his parents remained outside for several hours before seeing it being removed.
The shooting followed the death of a 17-year-old girl from the Gaighata police station area. Her family said she had gone to a local musical programme on Saturday night and left after receiving a phone call at about 11.30 pm. She did not return home. After an overnight search, her body was found on Sunday morning behind a neighbour’s house. The body was reportedly unclothed and bore injuries, and the family alleged that she had been raped and murdered. Police arrested Das, a relative of the girl’s family, on Sunday.
The girl and Das were known to each other and were distantly related, according to Das’s brother Dhruva Das. He said the girl sometimes visited Das’s shop and that the two had frequently argued. He also said the family had not been told immediately that an encounter had taken place when police came to their home at about 2 am.
The girl’s parents said they supported strong punishment for the accused but expressed different views about the shooting. Her mother said she had handed Das over to police and wanted him punished, but did not expect an encounter. She also questioned how he could have escaped with several officers present. The girl’s father said he had heard that Das tried to flee and fire at police, adding that the shooting could not bring his daughter back.
Das’s mother said she was distressed as a parent but also described herself as satisfied as a citizen after hearing the police account. She said she had wanted her son to face severe punishment, not to be killed in an encounter. Das’s father told reporters that his son had committed a wrong and had received punishment.
The incident also drew public statements supporting the police action. Minister Dilip Ghosh said the state government was following a zero-tolerance approach to serious crime and that police sometimes had to take “unpleasant steps” to restore public confidence. BJP legislator Ratna Debnath also backed the encounter and said such action could create fear among potential offenders.
The police account and the circumstances of the shooting remain central to the case. The supplied report does not cite an independent account of the alleged weapon seizure or exchange of fire. The next steps will determine how the encounter and the original rape-and-murder allegations are formally examined.
