Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday said Bengal has turned into “UP 2.0” following the police encounter of the accused first arrested in the rape and murder of a girl in Baruipur.Condemning the incident, Moitra told reporters, “Bengal has become UP 2.0 where the rule of law has become the rule of the jungle. The people of Bengal should be very careful to applaud this kind of bloodthirst and bloodlust. How can any civilised society justify this? We live by the Constitution and the rule of law. Our justice is supposed to be delivered by the legal system, by the BNSS. It is not supposed to be taken into the hands of either the police or the mob.”She stated that the encounter of the accused, Prabhas Mondal, derailed a crucial part of the investigation. “He was the person who led the police to the victim and named other co-accused. Yesterday, while in custody, he named someone called Raja. The investigation is not yet complete. They had taken him for a reconstruction of the crime scene, and it was the police’s duty to ensure that nothing happened to him before the trial,” Moitra said.Reacting to state BJP netas defending the police action, Moitra added, “If a suspect grabs a revolver and runs away, the police are supposed to shoot him below the knees. That is the rule. The police are not supposed to shoot him in the chest, back, or head to kill. Otherwise, there is no difference between the police and a riot mob.”Echoing her sentiments, fellow TMC MP Kirti Azad questioned the security lapse. “UP politics has become the norm of Bengal’s Jungle Raj. How does an encounter happen while a suspect is in custody? You would have had him restrained. So, this is all just a charade,” he stated.Meanwhile, the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee demanded a judicial probe by a sitting high court judge. “Just as the torture and murder of the little girl is entirely unacceptable, an encounter during a crime scene reconstruction is a matter of grave concern. Is the precedent of Yogi’s regime — which we condemn — being introduced in Bengal,” the party asked in an official statement.CPM’s Sujan Chakraborty said, “When Suvendu Adhikari was in the opposition, he was against encounters and bulldozer raj. But after becoming the chief minister, everything has altered. The attitude to go against the rule of law and the Constitution is dangerous for our democracy,” he said.SUCI (Communist) state secretary Chandidas Bhattacharya also demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident, adding, “It remains unclear whether this is a complete failure of the police or a sinister attempt to cover up some truth.”
