A prime suspect in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur, West Bengal, was shot dead in an alleged police encounter in the early hours of Wednesday, July 8, officials said.
Police said the accused, identified as Prabhas Mondal, was taken to Surjyapur in South 24 Parganas district around 12:45 am as investigators attempted to reconstruct the sequence of events in the case. Officers alleged that Mondal had been giving contradictory statements and misleading the investigation.
According to a senior police officer, Mondal grabbed a service weapon from an accompanying policeman during the reconstruction exercise and tried to flee, firing a shot at the police team in the process. Officers said they fired back in self-defence, wounding him. He was rushed to Baruipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Mondal was the first person arrested in the case and had been considered a key suspect after CCTV visuals reportedly placed him with the child shortly before she disappeared.
The encounter is the first such police action since the BJP-led state government took charge in May, and comes amid intense public anger over the crime, which had already triggered violent protests in the area.
Mother refuses to claim body
In an emotional response, Mondal’s mother, Sandhya Mondal, declined to accept her son’s body after police visited her home to inform her of his death and confirm his identity. She told reporters he had brought this on himself through his own actions, and said neither she nor anyone in the family would come forward to claim the body. She also said her son had long struggled with substance addiction and had never heeded her advice.
Fourth arrest made in the case
Separately, police arrested another accused, Kabir Molla, from Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district in a joint operation involving the state’s Special Task Force, the Baruipur Special Operations Group and local police. Molla had reportedly been on the run since the crime. His arrest brings the total number of people held in the case to four, alongside Mondal, Anand Sardar and Dibakar Sardar, who were arrested earlier.
Background: the crime and its aftermath
The 11-year-old girl went missing on July 4, and her body was recovered the next day from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area, reportedly stuffed inside a sack. Investigators allege she was gang-raped before being killed.
News of the crime set off widespread public fury, with residents blocking the Baruipur–Joynagar road, burning tyres and damaging police vehicles as they demanded swift arrests and harsh punishment for those responsible. In the chaos that followed the recovery of the girl’s body, a mob lynched a man on suspicion of involvement in the crime — an accusation the state government later said was mistaken, clarifying that the victim of the mob attack had no connection to the case.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited Baruipur on July 7 and chaired a high-level review with senior police officials, directing the state’s Director General of Police to submit a report on the case within 72 hours. He reiterated that the government would take a “zero tolerance” approach to such crimes. Adhikari also said police had identified roughly 200 people from video footage in connection with the violence and vandalism that broke out during the protests. Officials said 20 people have been arrested so far over attacks on police personnel and damage to public property, with further action expected against others found involved.
