‘Have complete faith’: Baruipur victim’s father after accused killed in encounter

Hours after one of the prime accused in the Baruipur rape-murder case was killed in an alleged police encounter during a crime scene reconstruction late on Tuesday night, the father of the victim expressed confidence in the police and the state government.

Reacting to the development, he said he had full faith in the investigation and thanked Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for standing by the family.

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“I have complete faith in the police and the government. The Chief Minister is honouring the assurance he gave us yesterday. We are very happy,” he said.

“Chief Minister assured me that justice would be done. We have complete trust in him. We want the remaining three accused to receive the strictest punishment. he told me, ‘Just watch my work’,” he said.

The accused killed in the encounter, Prabhas Mondal, was among the four persons arrested in connection with the alleged gangrape and murder of the minor.

Police said Mondal was taken to the crime scene on Tuesday night for reconstruction of the incident when he allegedly snatched a firearm from a police officer, opened fire and attempted to flee. Police retaliated, critically injuring him. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Earlier in the investigation, a video had surfaced showing Mondal standing inside a pond and pointing out the location where the victim’s body had allegedly been dumped. Acting on his indication, police recovered the minor’s body, which had been stuffed inside a sack.

The recovery had triggered public outrage, and angry residents assaulted Mondal before police intervened.

Hours after his death, police informed his family. His mother, Sandhya Mondal, refused to identify or claim his body.

Speaking to reporters, she said police had visited her home early in the morning on Wednesday, informed her about her son’s death and asked for his identity card. They also asked whether she wished to see his body.

“He has got the result of what he did. It is good that this has happened,” she said, adding that she would neither see his face nor claim his body. Sandhya also said her son was addicted to intoxicants and never listened to the family.

The minor had gone missing on Saturday after leaving home to attend a friend’s birthday celebration. During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage and spotted her with a youth wearing a blue T-shirt and a red cap. The footage led investigators to Mondal, who became the first person arrested in the case.

Based on his interrogation, police subsequently arrested Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sardar, followed by Kabir Molla on Tuesday. Investigators said Mondal initially attempted to mislead them with false information, but sustained interrogation of all the accused separately helped reconstruct the sequence of events.