Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
CCTV footage showing a man in a blue cap accompanying a missing 12-year-old girl helped residents trace a suspect whose alleged disclosure led to the recovery of her body from a pond in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas, according to the sequence of events shared in the case.
The alleged kidnapping, gang rape and murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl in Baruipur, near Kolkata, last week has triggered public outrage, violent clashes, a mob lynching and a major political face-off, with the Trinamool Congress accusing the BJP government led by Suvendu Adhikari of placing its chief, Mamata Banerjee, under house arrest to prevent her from visiting the victim’s family.
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The 12-year-old had left her home in the Dhopdhopi II Gram Panchayat area of Surjyapur in Baruipur at around 4.30 pm on Saturday to buy a birthday gift for a friend. When she did not return, her family searched for her through the night and alleged that four local men had abducted her, while also claiming there was a delay in the initial police response.
According to the inputs, at around 8 pm on Saturday, local residents and the victim’s relatives came across CCTV footage from the area. The footage allegedly showed two people moving around, with one of them, wearing a blue cap, seen taking the girl with him.
Using the footage, residents later identified one of the youths and reached his residence at around 4 am on Sunday, where they found him. Under pressure, the youth allegedly disclosed the location where the girl’s body had been hidden.
Acting on the information, residents recovered the girl’s body, allegedly stuffed inside a sack, from a pond near Surjyapur Haat at around 9 am on Sunday.
According to the inputs, the youth also claimed that three to four people had taken the girl away. As the body was recovered, an angry crowd allegedly assaulted the youth before police intervened and rescued him.
Later, local residents allegedly apprehended 26-year-old Indrajit Tanti and lynched him. He was subsequently declared dead at a hospital.
The recovery of the body triggered widespread violence across the area. Protesters blocked the Baruipur–Joynagar Road by burning tyres and wooden logs, vandalised police vehicles and staged a sit-in on the railway tracks at Suryapur station, disrupting train services on the Sealdah–Namkhana section for several hours.
Senior police officers, including Inspector General of Police (Presidency Range) Kankarprasad Barui, reached the area with heavy reinforcements. Using megaphones, they assured protesters that those found guilty would face capital punishment and announced the formation of a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT).
According to the inputs, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also spoke to the victim’s father over the phone, assuring swift justice and inviting the family to Bhabani Bhawan on Tuesday. Following the assurances, the victim’s family appealed to protesters to withdraw the road and rail blockades so that the body could be sent for a post-mortem examination.
Police subsequently registered three FIRs relating to the alleged murder, the mob lynching and the assault on law enforcement personnel. A local BJP worker, Shantanu Mandal, was detained for questioning, taking the total to two arrests and three detentions, according to the inputs. Authorities also imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) across the area.
The incident also sparked a political confrontation, with the inputs stating that former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attempted to visit the victim’s family while a CPI(M) delegation led by Sujan Chakraborty and a TMC delegation comprising Dola Sen, Pratima Mandal and Biman Banerjee also headed to Baruipur.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
