By Tirthankar Mitra
KOLKATA: Prabhas Mondal’s death in police firing in Baruipur in West Bengal on early Wednesday after he allegedly tried to escape snatching fire arm from a policeman is a major police administration lapse. The deceased was an accused in the rape and murder of a minor. His killing signals the adoption of the first BJP led state government in Bengal of the encounter policy of the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
He was taken to spot where the ghastly incident occurred to reconstruct the crime and killed while trying to escape. The incident is being stated to be a death in an encounter but it should not close the lid on a heinous crime due to an administrative slip.
Encounter killings are an euphemism to describe extrajudicial killings by security forces. It is described as a shootout situation when an accused grabs the gun of a policeman and the term came into widespread use in late 20th century.
Several questions arising about the Baruipur incident remain unanswered.. One wonders whether the reconstruction process of the crime was videographed. For visual details would provide a valuable guide to the sequence of events which led to Mondal’s death. The policemen present at the spot have not stated whether any efforts have been made to “neutralise” the accused before he was fired upon.
Doubts are being raised, even in. police circles on the wisdom to reconstruct the crime on a dark night. Given the usual practice, the accused should have been taken to the scene of the crime long before sundown especially as the area was difficult to reach owing to water, mud and slush.
One is in the dark about the presence/absence of a witness during the reconstruction of the crime. Much is being made of Mondal snatching a hand gun from a policeman and firing at his captors while escaping.
Side arms are chained to the person of the policemen, a legacy of the anti-Naxalite period police operations. How did the accused manage to snatch the hand gun under these circumstances is a question doing the rounds among men in uniform.
Three shots have been reported to be fired during the incident. The local people not hearing any of the shots being fired does not lend credence to the sequence of events leading to Mondal’s death.
West Bengal is no stranger to “encounter deaths”. It can be traced to the late ’60s and the early ’70s when many youth whose political leaning was close to the radical Left were picked up by men in uniform or mufti for “interrogation” and were stated to have been killed in encounter when they reportedly tried to escape from their captors.
A matinee idol who witnessed one of these “encounters” during his morning walk in the Maidan was asked to leave the city for his own benefit. He obliged spending quite some time in Mumbai away from his place of work.
Justification of the encounter in Baruipur incident has come from several quarters, though such affirmations cannot stated to adhering to the rule of law. Scepticism has marked the reaction a large section of the Opposition.
Lapses on the part of the police tumble out as one goes through the facts of the case. Delay marked the police response after a complaint of the girl being missing was lodged. The police dragged its feet before arriving at the scene of the crime. An innocent youth was lynched by mob three hours after the body of the victim was found.
Chief Minister, Subhendu Adhikari who happens to be the police minister lost no time in rushing to the spot. He assured firm action after meeting the next of kin of both the victims and announced compensation. But the encounter killing of one of the prime accused has no place in the society adhering to the rule of law. Yet it is being advertised by the saffron camp as an instance of strong governance which is common in other states where the powers that be belong to the BJP.
One hopes the death of Pravash Mondal will be an aberration. Dark days will descend on the state if it is considered to be a precedent and the practice continues. The chief minister is well aware of the political pitfalls of an administrative howler being covered up. The gruesome death of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College is a case in point.
It was handled in slipshod manner by Trinamool Congress government. It turned out to be one of the major factors of public disaffection whose political dividend was reaped by the present dispensation of the state.
The encounter death is anything but an emblem of strong governance. On the other hand, the grotesque death of the minor is a pointer to the fact that the safety of women in West Bengal leaves much to be desired even after a regime change. Obviously political change does not necessarily translate into change for the better. West Bengal is among the states which records a high rate of crime against women.
Government of all ideological hues have pledged against the malaise. After all, women voters are a crucial constituency for every political party. Yet things remain bleak. Reaching a significant level of women’s safety in West Bengal is still a long way off. (IPA Service)
