A man accused of raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district was killed in an exchange of fire with police early on Monday, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari saying that personnel of the force were allowed to retaliate in self-defence.
Police had been on the lookout for Roy for four days following the recovery of the girl’s naked and partially decomposed body from a forest near the Kulik river.
“Police fired in retaliation, injuring the accused. “We had been searching for the accused for the past four days. Her body was recovered two days later from a forest near the Kulik river. Her kin alleged that she had been raped and murdered. Police had claimed that he snatched a firearm from personnel while being taken to the crime scene for reconstruction and opened fire, forcing them to retaliate in self-defence.
Acting on a tip-off received around 2 am on Monday, our team traced him in Parapukur near the Bengal-Bihar border. The 12-year-old girl had gone missing on November 3 after leaving her home on a bicycle in the afternoon, according to her family. In July, Prabhas Mondal, an accused in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in South 24 Parganas district’s Baruipur, was killed in an encounter.
Officials said the accused, Dilip Roy, allegedly opened fire at a police team conducting a raid to arrest him at a village in Raiganj. He was taken to Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead,” an officer said. He opened fire at the police team, who retaliated in self-defence,” the senior police officer said.
