Bengal girl murder case: Police arrest fourth accused in Basirhat

Kolkata, July 8 (IANS) The members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case of the death of a 12-year-old minor girl, allegedly raped and murdered, at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district last week, have arrested one more person.

The arrested person has been identified as Kabir Molla. This is the fourth arrest made in the matter since Sunday afternoon after the body of the victim, a minor girl, was recovered from a pond in the Suryapur area in Baruipur.

Already, Pravas Mondal, the first to be arrested in the case, was killed in an encounter early Wednesday morning, as the accused made an escape attempt after snatching a service rifle of an escorting police person.

The other two accused persons, namely Dibakar Sardar and Ananda Sardar, with the latter being the prime accused and the mastermind in the case, are currently in police custody.

An insider from the state police said that Kabir had been absconding since the heinous crime took place, and finally, was arrested early in the morning from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

Kabir will be presented at a district court in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal later in the day, and the public prosecutor will seek his police custody.

Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari went to Baruipur on Tuesday. He held a high-level meeting with police officials at the Baruipur District Police. Later, he said that the police and administration have adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in the case.

Apart from that, the Chief Minister also said that the police have started an investigation into the chaos and violence created by a group of people in the name of protest on Sunday following the recovery of the minor girl’s body.

“Some people have been identified through the video. None of them will be spared,” the Chief Minister said.

After the Chief Minister’s announcement on Tuesday evening, so far, 20 people have been arrested on charges of involvement in the attack on the police and vandalism of vehicles. The police said.

The body of the minor girl was recovered from a pond in the Suryapur area on Sunday, following which tension flared up in the area. Even a 26-year-old youth, Indrajit Tanti, was killed in a mob lynching. Later, the police investigation revealed that the lynched youth was innocent, as informed by the Chief Minister on Tuesday.

–IANS

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