States » EastPosted at: Oct 27 2026 7:58PM


Bengal encounters trigger political debate, BJP backs police action, Opposition questions circumstances

Kolkata, Oct 27 (UNI) The deaths of Prahlad Das, the prime accused in the rape and murder of a minor girl in Gaighata, and Shamaul Sheikh, accused in the BJP leader murder case at Dhulian, in police encounters has triggered a political debate in West Bengal, with ruling party leaders defending the police action while Opposition leaders have questioned the circumstances leading to the shootings.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said police are establishing the rule of law, which was absent for a long time. "These are not encounters. Police are defending themselves," he said.
Former BJP state president Dilip Ghosh and state minister Tapas Roy backed the police action, arguing that the police had to respond firmly to an attack. In contrast, senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty and Congress leader Soumya Aich Roy raised questions about police professionalism, security lapses and the need to uphold the rule of law.
Congress Working Committee member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Delhi said that under the BJP government's rule in Bengal, encounters are being established as a continuing process parallel to the legal system.
"But these killings could not focus on the actual crimes and expose the other perpetrators of the crimes," said Chowdhury.
BJP leader Roy defended the police response, saying that those who commit crimes against women and subsequently attack the police should face such action.
Ghosh said restoring public confidence in the police required firm measures. "People have lost faith in the police. To restore that confidence, the police will have to take some unpleasant steps," he said.
Asked whether such encounters would reduce rape, Ghosh said West Bengal had lacked the rule of law for years. He argued that the establishment of the rule of law would instil fear among potential offenders.
However, Chakraborty, a member of the CPI(M)'s central committee, questioned the justification for the encounter and stressed the importance of the judicial process. He said that however heinous a crime might be, the country had an established legal system and courts to determine guilt and award punishment.
If the police assumed the role of judge and began dispensing punishment through encounters, it would undermine the rule of law, he argued. Chakraborty favoured exemplary punishment for the accused but maintained that it must be imposed through due process and the courts rather than through extrajudicial action.
Congress leader Soumya Aich Roy also questioned how an accused in police custody could allegedly seize a firearm and open fire at the personnel escorting him.
The circumstances under which Das and Sheikh were taken out late at night and in broad daylight for the reconstruction of the crime scenes have also raised questions about whether adequate precautions were taken by the police. "During the Naxal era, police friends used to secure their revolvers to their waists with a chain so no one could steal them and run. So Bengal police should be trained to save their weapons. In both case same things happened, " said Mr Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Meanwhile, former Mumbai police assistant commissioner Daya Nayak, widely known for his record as an encounter specialist, backed the Bengal police's right to defend themselves during Monday night's encounters.
Nayak said police personnel were entitled to protect themselves when an accused pointed a firearm at them or attempted to snatch a weapon. His remarks brought a policing perspective to the debate over the legality and necessity of the action.
The controversy has brought into focus the competing demands for swift action against crimes against women and strict adherence to legal procedures. While supporters of the police action have stressed the need to restore public confidence, critics have called for scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The precise sequence of events leading to Das's death and the circumstances of the alleged exchange of fire remain central to the debate. An independent assessment of the incident would be crucial to establishing whether the police action complied with the law.
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Tags: #Bengal encounters trigger political debate# BJP backs police action# Opposition questions circumstances
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