West Bengal police allegedly shot dead two accused men in custody within 24 hours, in near identical circumstances. In both cases, police said the accused snatched a firearm from officers and opened fire. The incidents took place in two districts, Murshidabad and North 24 Parganas.
Samiul Sheikh, the main accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal, was allegedly killed in Murshidabad district, said the police, while trying to escape custody. Officers arrested Sheikh and two others after Mondal went missing on Aug. 28.
On Oct. 27, a team of the Criminal Investigation Department took Sheikh to the Old Dak Bungalow area in Samserganj to reconstruct the crime. According to a police officer talking to PTI, Sheikh tried to escape while the team returned from the spot. He snatched a firearm from a police officer and opened fire at the team. Retaliatory firing injured him. Officers took him to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The incident followed another gunfight shortly before midnight on Oct. 26 in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas. Police shot dead Prahlad Das, accused of raping and murdering a Class 11 student.
Police arrested Das on Oct. 25, a day after the girl went missing. Officers recovered her body the following day.
Opposition parties questioned whether West Bengal now copies the practice of extrajudicial killings in U.P. under CM Yogi Adityanath. Opposition leaders described the practice as an ‘alien culture’.