Two encounters have been reported in West Bengal in a single day.
On Tuesday morning, an encounter saw the death of 23-year-old Prahlad Das, accused in the murder and rape of a 17-year-old girl at Gaighata in the North 24 Parganas district. Samayan Sheikh, accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal in the Shamshergunj area of the Murshidabad district, was killed in a police encounter on the same day.
This comes after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the investigation of the cases on Tuesday.
No official police statement has been issued as yet. The accused reputedly tried to flee when the police opened fire.
Having taken charge of the investigation on Tuesday, the CID began a thorough probe from day one. In the afternoon, a special CID team arrived at Shamshergunj with SP Tapas Mukherjee. Kunal Kanti Das, the new Inspector-in-Charge (IC) of the Shamshergunj Police Station, also assumed charge on Tuesday.
Soon after reaching the police station, the investigation team set out to begin the probe. The team first went to the 'Old Dak Bungalow Bhutu Market' in Shamshergunj, which is believed to be the site of the BJP leader’s murder. CID officers are believed to have spent considerable time examining the scene.
The team then went straight to the Farakka Feeder Canal where part of Sujit Mondal's body was allegedly recovered. At the location, investigators examined various aspects of the crime, and then reached Mondal's house, where they spoke at length with family members and gathered information on various aspects of the incident.
Along with the CID team were the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Jangipur Police District, Shamshergunj's new IC Kunal Kanti Das and several other police officers.
Mondal, a resident of Shamshergunj, went missing under mysterious circumstances on August 28th. Later, the police recovered some parts of his body which caused panic in the area. Reports followed of police negligence.
Following this and statements by CM Suvendu Adhikari, a major reshuffle was carried out in the police department.
Several police officers were suspended and the IC of the Shamshergunj Police Station was removed from active duty. The investigation was also handed over to the CID, which swung into action, and visited three key places at the start of its probe: the crime scene, the Farakka Feeder Canal and Sujit Mondal's house.
