On Wednesday morning, Pravas Mondal, one of the accused in the minor girl rape-murder case in West Bengal, was killed in an encounter while attempting to escape from police custody. Mondal, who was arrested on Sunday evening, was being taken to the crime scene in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district, to reconstruct the incident. However, he snatched a service rifle from a police escort and tried to flee, prompting a chase by police personnel. During the pursuit, Mondal allegedly fired at the police, who then resorted to counter-firing, resulting in his death. The 12-year-old minor girl’s body was recovered from a pond in the Suryapur area on Sunday morning, sparking violent protests and demands for the arrest of the culprits. A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case, and Mondal was the first to be arrested, followed by Dibakar Sarkar and Ananda Sardar, the alleged mastermind. The investigation revealed that Mondal was seen with the minor girl before she went missing on Saturday afternoon, and CCTV footage showed him with her in the area. The police claimed that Mondal was not cooperating with the investigation and was giving contradictory answers, leading them to reconstruct the incident to understand his role in the events. The encounter occurred during this reconstruction exercise, when Mondal attempted to escape and was shot by police personnel.
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📰 Source: Mangalorean News