Kolkata | West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday directed Director General of Police Sidd Nath Gupta to submit a report in the rape-murder case of a minor in Baruipur, and said that the person who was lynched by a mob in the aftermath of the incident was innocent.
Adhikari also said that action will be taken against around 200 identified people, who allegedly vandalised public property, damaged police vehicles and railway tracks during the protest that followed the recovery of the 11-year-old girl's body on Sunday.
"We have examined the entire matter. I have conducted a primary analysis. I asked the DGP to submit a report within 72 hours. We will take strict action accordingly. If there is any negligence on the time taken after the complaint was lodged, even if it is one per cent, action will be taken," Adhikari told reporters after meeting the family of the girl at the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in South 24 Parganas district.
"The youth killed in the mob lynching, Indrajit Mondal, was also innocent. This is what the police told me; these are not my words. He (Mondal) will also get justice. I have met his family members also," he said.
Adhikari asserted that the family of the rape-murder victim was satisfied with the progress of the police investigation.
"I am satisfied after talking to them, and I think they are also satisfied," he said.
Adhikari said around 200 people who were involved in damaging public property during the protest were identified.
"All of them will be arrested. Not a single person will get respite," the chief minister said.
Investigators gathered evidence against those people who had instigated the violence, he said, pointing fingers at opposition parties without naming them.
"Those who have instigated from behind, including those rejected by the people in the recent (assembly) elections, those who gained one seat from zero, and also some radical and anti-national forces, have been identified. Their (radical and anti-national) call recordings have been collected by the STF under the DGP. The government will teach them proper lessons," Adhikari said.
Those who incited people to get cheap publicity on social media will also not be given respite, he added.
The CM said the girl's family had sought the setting up of a police outpost at Surjapur. Adhikari said he will inaugurate it when he comes to Baruipur again next week.
"Regarding compensation and assistance, the family members gave me certain suggestions. I will visit both the families within a week and then announce," he said.
Adhikari said he had spoken to public representatives, including MP and Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) leader Sayani Ghosh, former Assembly Speaker and TMC MLA Biman Banerjee, as well as three BJP MLAs, and briefed them on the progress of the investigation.
He said he had also held a virtual meeting with DGP Sidh Nath Gupta and other senior police officers across the state and directed them to ensure that such incidents do not recur by strictly implementing the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Supreme Court guidelines and statutory protocols under the POCSO Act and child rights framework.
Recalling action taken in the alleged rape-murder of an on-duty doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital case, Adhikari said, "After coming to power, I suspended three top IPS officers in the RG Kar incident. So, my stand is clear, everybody knows that."
He said that those involved in the mob lynching (of Mondal) would face murder charges.
"Those who are involved in the mob lynching of the innocent man will be booked under murder charges. Police have been given clear instructions that those involved in hooliganism throughout the day should face strong action," he said.
Adhirkari later went to meet the police personnel who were injured during the violent protest in Baruipur at a hospital in the city.
He assured them of all assistance from the administration.
Adhikari shared photos of himself visiting an injured policeman on social media.
Meanwhile, family members of the deceased minor and the mob lynching victim said that they were satisfied with their meeting with the CM.
"He listened to us and assured us of justice. We have requested him for a police outpost, and he promised us to look into it," one of the family members of the girl said.
The body of the girl, who had gone missing on July 4, was found stuffed in a sack in Surjyapur Haat area the next day, triggering a protest by locals who blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road, burnt tyres and damaged a few police vehicles, demanding the arrest of the accused persons.
Hours after the girl's body was recovered on Sunday, a man was beaten to death by angry locals on suspicion of involvement in the girl's death.
Three people were arrested in connection with the rape-murder case. A six-member special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the matter.
