Fresh violence erupted at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal on Saturday over the alleged rape and murder of a teenage girl whose body was recovered from a canal on Friday. Police fired tear gas shells to bring the situation under control and have deployed more forces in the area.
The girl, a resident of Gangua village of the district, went missing on Thursday evening after she went for her tuition classes and could not be traced the entire night, despite extensive searches by her family members and local people. Her body was recovered from a canal on Friday morning.
Alleging she was raped and murdered, the villagers staged a protest and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. They put up road blockades, burnt tyres and allegedly pelted stones at police.
Media reports claimed that the police dragged the body of the girl while sending it for postmortem. The National Commission for Women has asked the West Bengal DGP to ensure a fair and time-bound investigation in the case and also to take stringent action against the erring police officers who allegedly dragged the body.
Meanwhile, a political blame game has also erupted with the opposition BJP targeting the state government and demanding a CBI probe into the incident.
“Police have changed the case, they are not listening to the villagers. They termed the case as a suicide. But several pieces of evidence were received that prove a rape was committed. We want a CBI investigation in this case and we also demand justice for the victim,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.
On Friday, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari alleged "lawlessness" in the state and held the state police "responsible" for the crime.
Posting a video of locals guarding a body covered by a white sheet, the senior BJP leader also alleged that the police were busy in making security arrangements for the proposed trip of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to the district next month.
