Kolkata, July 30 -- The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the South 24-Parganas police to file a detailed affidavit on the encounter in which Prabhas Mondal, the prime accused in the Baruipur rape and murder of a minor, was killed.
Hearing a public interest litigation seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee sought details of the case and fixed August 17 for the next hearing.
The petitioner argued that Mondal was in police custody when he died and questioned the decision to conduct a crime scene reconstruction late at night.
It was submitted that adequate security should have been in place and alleged that the police claim that the accused snatched a service revolver and opened fire before being shot was fabricated. The plea sought a judicial probe into the incident, contending that the custodial death amounted to an extrajudicial killing.
Opposing the plea, the state submitted that Mondal attempted to flee during the reconstruction by snatching a police weapon and firing at officers, who retaliated in self-defence. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The state also informed the court that a suo motu case had been registered and that the investigation was being conducted by the CID.
An inquest was held before a magistrate in accordance with legal procedure. After hearing both sides, the Bench directed the police to submit a comprehensive affidavit containing all relevant details before the next hearing.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.