Bengal CM announces Rs 25 lakh aid for family of youth lynched in Baruipur

Kolkata, July 11 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh for the family of Indrajit Tanti, the 26-year-old youth who was lynched in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district, on July 5 after being falsely suspected in the death of a 12-year-old girl.

The girl’s body was recovered from a pond in the area on the morning of July 5, triggering violence and unrest. Amid the turmoil, Tanti was allegedly lynched by a mob after being wrongly linked to the minor’s death. Subsequent police investigations cleared him of any involvement in the case.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had also said that Tanti had no role in the rape and murder of the minor girl and was innocent.

On Saturday, the Chief Minister reached Baruipur to inaugurate a police outpost in Suryapur area, where the alleged rape and murder of the girl and the lynching of the innocent youth had taken place.

During the visit, he met Tanti’s family members and handed over a compensation cheque of Rs 25 lakh. He also announced that the victim’s elder brother would be offered a job as a civic volunteer in the state police.

Speaking to the media persons, the Chief Minister said that the government stands with the families of both the victim minor girl and the youth killed in mob-lynching.

“Not a single offender involved in any of the two crimes will be spared. I am grateful to the family members of the minor girl for the manner in which they are cooperating in the investigation process. They lodged complaints against four persons, and all of them were arrested. One of them managed to escape near the Indo-Bangladesh border at Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district. He was later arrested from there. The police had done a good job in the investigation,” CM Adhikari said.

However, he refused to make any comment on the encounter killing of Pravas Mondal, one of the four arrested in the matter, earlier this week.

“Since the Criminal Investigation Department is conducting a probe in the matter, I will not comment anything on this issue at the moment,” the Chief Minister said.

–IANS

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