Three men have been killed in police encounters in West Bengal over the past three months, including two on successive nights in October, prompting rights activists and opposition leaders to question the police account of the shootings and raise concerns over the use of lethal force.
The latest deaths occurred in Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district and Dhulian in Murshidabad on 26 and 27 October. In both cases, police said the suspects were taken to crime scenes for reconstruction, allegedly seized officers’ firearms and opened fire before being killed in retaliatory shooting. A similar incident took place in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas in July.
No reports of police personnel being injured in the three incidents were cited in the account of the shootings, prompting questions about the circumstances in which the suspects allegedly obtained firearms.
In Gaighata, 23-year-old Prahlad Das, accused of raping and murdering a teenage girl, was taken to the crime scene for reconstruction. Police sources alleged that he seized a service revolver and fired at officers, who shot him in retaliation. A senior police officer said the circumstances of the shooting, including how Das obtained the revolver, would be examined.
Das’s death follows the July killing of Prabhas Mondal in Baruipur. Mondal, accused in a rape and murder case involving a minor, was also killed during a crime-scene reconstruction, according to the police account.
In Dhulian, Murshidabad, Samaun Sheikh, arrested in connection with the murder of BJP leader Sujit Mondal, was killed during a reconstruction exercise in the Puratan Dakbangla area of Samsherganj. Police alleged that Sheikh seized an officer’s firearm and fired three rounds before officers returned fire.
Sujit Mondal’s dismembered body was recovered after he went missing on 28 August. Three people, including Sheikh, had been arrested in connection with the murder.
Questions over police accounts
The deaths have raised questions about the practice of taking suspects in serious criminal cases to crime scenes for reconstruction, particularly at night, and about the security arrangements during such exercises.
The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) questioned the circumstances of the Gaighata shooting. Its vice-president, Ranjit Sur, asked why a detainee had been taken out at midnight for reconstruction with his hands apparently unrestrained. He described the circumstances as “highly suspicious” and questioned how the accused could have seized a police revolver.
Retired police officer Salil Bhattacharya said the authorities needed to address such questions rather than dismiss them.
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