Nanoor/Kolkata: On the run for 48 hours, 31-year-old Ratan Sheikh, who had shot Santiniketan police constable Biswajit Das in his left knee on Nov 13 to throw him off his trail, was gunned down on Sunday evening at a desolate brick kiln in Nanoor, Birbhum, in an “encounter”.Police said Sheikh, against whom 36 criminal cases were pending, fired at them in the brick kiln, forcing them to retailiate in self-defence.This was the fifth police “encounter death” in Bengal since BJP came to office in May. In the first such “encounter”, in July, police shot a rape-murder accused after he allegedly tried to snatch a cop’s firearm during reconstruction of the crime scene.According to police, Sheikh had fled to Burdwan after shooting at constable Das. A police team picked him up from there and questioned him. While being brought back to Santiniketan, cops asked him where he had hidden the firearm with which he had shot at the constable. Sheikh reportedly took them to the brick kiln at Nanoor’s Uchakaran village.There, police said, as soon as he laid his hands on the firearm, he turned around and shot at them repeatedly. The cops then fired back in self-defence. He suffered bullet wounds and was rushed to a Bolpur hospital, where he was declared dead.CM Suvendu Adhikari later told reporters: “He (Sheikh) was a notorious criminal with 36 cases pending against him. If somebody fires at police, the latter will not shower flower petals on them or feed them batasha (a common sugar candy). Police have been given a free hand (to deal with these criminals).”The CM added, “There is no place for rapists and murderers in Bengal. All goons should flee to Bangladesh, where there are Jamatis (fundamentalists). If they stay here, we will do what is necessary for them.”Das, the injured cop, was admitted to Bolpur Sub-Divisional Hospital, before being shifted to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital. On Sunday, he was transferred to a hospital in Kolkata.Adhikari had on Saturday visited the Burdwan hospital to meet the injured constable. Praising Das for his courage, he said the sacrifice of police personnel would not go in vain and that the accused would face appropriate punishment.Immediately after the Nov 13 incident, police launched a combing operation in search of Sheikh. The accused, a resident of Saonta village in Nanoor, fled to Burdwan. He had been arrested in a case a few months ago and was released on bail in October.The CM had raised questions over how Sheikh had secured bail, stating the role of the public prosecutor handling the case would be probed.
