WEST BENGAL — Police in West Bengal shot and killed rape and murder suspect Pravash Mondal on Tuesday during an alleged attempt to snatch a service firearm and escape while reenacting the crime at the pond where an 11-year-old girl’s body was found. The girl’s body had been recovered from a pond in Baruipur, south of Kolkata, on Sunday, after her family reported her missing on Saturday when she left home to buy a birthday gift for a friend.

Police stated the child had been raped and stuffed into a sack while still alive before being thrown into the pond. An autopsy confirmed she suffered a blow to the head, along with bites and scratches on her body, and determined the cause of death was drowning. Family members alleged that police initially did not take the missing person report seriously and that they had to check local CCTV cameras themselves to locate her.

Baruipur police said Mondal was taken to the pond on Tuesday to recreate the crime scene when he tried to seize an officer’s gun and fired a round at police, prompting officers to shoot him dead. Three other men arrested in connection with the girl’s death remain in custody, and police stated those suspects have confessed. The police complaint has been amended to include charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the state government has formed a special investigation team to inquire into the case.

Following the recovery of the girl’s body on Sunday, a mob in Baruipur beat a 26-year-old man to death. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari stated the man killed by the mob was innocent and not among the suspects in the case. Adhikari, whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the West Bengal state election in May, ending 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, visited the victim’s family on Tuesday. “Our government is committed to curb any such incidents in the state. The police is doing what needs to be done. The family has spoke to me, they have lost their beloved daughter. I believe that they are satisfied talking to me,” he said.

Adhikari also said, “He too will get justice,” referring to the man lynched by the mob, and suggested the attack had both communal and political motives, noting the victim was Muslim while the alleged attackers and the lynched man were Hindu. He added, “Around 200 people responsible for damaging police vehicles and vandalizing railway lines have been identified,” as protests across West Bengal included vandalism of shops, railway lines, and attacks on officers.

A ban on public gatherings is now in force across the state, with paramilitary officers deployed to sensitive areas. More than 30 people have been arrested in connection with the lynching and associated violence. Opposition figures questioned the circumstances of Mondal’s killing, citing concerns over the rule of law, and accused the BJP-led government of failing to protect women and allowing a decline in law and order. A relative of the victim said, “Had the police acted earlier, she could have been saved.”

Why It Matters

The case has triggered widespread unrest in West Bengal and intensified political tensions following the BJP’s recent electoral victory. The police response—from the handling of the initial missing person report to the fatal shooting of a suspect and the formation of a special investigation team—has drawn both defense from state leadership and criticism from opposition voices and the victim’s family. The communal dimensions and allegations of political conspiracy further complicate an already volatile situation.