Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought a report from the district police regarding the encounter of Prabhas Mondal, the prime accused in the Baruipur rape and murder of a minor.The division bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee directed a detailed affidavit including the case number and other details. It will be next heard on Aug 17.The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Calcutta High Court lawyer Shiladitya Rakshit sought for judicial enquiry into the incident. It was argued that the killing of accused in an encounter while in custody amounts to extrajudicial killing, depriving the main accused of his fundamental right.Rakshit’s counsel, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya submitted, “The police arrested the prime accused, Prabhas Mondal, in the Baruipur rape case and took him to the crime scene for a reconstruction of events…Who had decided on the dead of night reconstruction? The police should have ensured adequate security arrangements. Had the security been proper, the incident where the accused allegedly snatched a revolver from the police would not have occurred. This claim by the police is entirely fabricated. We demand a judicial inquiry into this incident.”State Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar stated that the prime accused had been arrested. On the night of July 7 and the early hours of July 8, while the crime scene was being reconstructed, the accused, Mondal, snatched a service revolver from the police. He fired at the police, and the accused was injured in the retaliatory fire. Upon being taken to a local hospital, he was declared dead by the doctors. The police have registered a suo motu case regarding the incident, and an investigation is currently underway under the supervision of the CID. An inquest was conducted in the presence of a magistrate, in accordance with procedure.After hearing arguments from both sides, the judges directed that a detailed report from the police administration is required regarding this matter. The police administration must submit the report in the form of an affidavit.
