Facing heat over Bengal rape-murder, Suvendu Adhikari government treads with caution

On Tuesday, after meeting the families of the victim girl and the lynched youth in Baruipur and holding a high-level meeting with police officials, Adhikari directed Sidh Nath Gupta, the Director General of Police, to file a report within 72 hours. The CM also said that “even 1% of lapses” in the police’s role would not be tolerated and that he would revisit the victims’ families in seven days and announce compensation.

Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participates in a candlelight protest rally in south Kolkata (Express Photo)

The CM said he was told by the police that the lynched youth, Indrajit Mondol, was “innocent”. Adhikari had earlier claimed that the lynching had a “communal connection”. He had also said that a “political conspiracy” was behind the mob violence.

With the BJP coming to power in the recent Assembly polls on the back of promises on improving law and order and women safety, a senior party minister said, “It (Baruipur rape-murder) is not only the first major tragic incident the BJP government faced after coming to power, but a challenge in a state where law and order has been in question for years. It is indeed a challenge for the CM, who is also the home minister, to be true to his words. One of the first promises he made was to ensure women security and law and order. That is what you are seeing him trying to do.”

“It is also important that leaders of certain parties who fanned the mob after the Baruipur incident be identified. The CM made it clear. Law and order is a challenge and we will tackle it,” the minister added.

Senior BJP leader and minister Dilip Ghosh, while speaking to the media Thursday, said, “We don’t want encounters. We have a zero-tolerance policy for crimes. Within 24 hours, the culprits (in the Baruipur case) were arrested, and when one of them tried to escape, the police did not hesitate to shoot… CM Suvendu Adhikari showed how to personally stand on the spot and take steps to improve law and order… All over the world crime is increasing, but a lot can be done if the government is proactive. We have shown it in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.”

The BJP government seems to be looking to deliver on its poll pledges to ensure women safety and uphold law and order, especially in light of its strong stand against the then Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the 2024 R G Kar rape-murder case. The BJP also later fielded the R G Kar victim’s mother as a candidate in the Assembly polls from Panihat, which she won.

The spot where the accused was killed in a ‘police encounter’ in West Bengal’s Baruipur Tuesday night. (Express photo)

While protests after the Baruipur incident have not reached the intensity of those after the R G Kar case, the Adhikari government is trying to send out a tough message. On Wednesday, the CM reiterated that after coming to power, the BJP government suspended top police officials over their “lapses” in investigations into the R G Kar case.

Opposition’s attacks

On Wednesday, in its first major push against the Adhikari government after the election loss and desertion of many legislators and MPs, the Mamata-led TMC hit the streets in Kolkata in protest against the Baruipur incident. During the TMC’s rally, organised with the Calcutta High Court’s permission, its workers clashed with BJP activists, leading to mild police lathi-charge. The TMC claimed many of its workers were injured in these clashes.

After the rally, Mamata, targeting the BJP dispensation, said, “Are you trying to control us by keeping us under surveillance and restricting our movements? Our vehicles are allegedly being stopped, while BJP supporters are being allowed to organise motorcycle rallies outside my residence, shout abusive slogans targeting my family, and create disturbances… During previous protests, including those over the R G Kar incident, we did not arrest anyone because democratic protest is a legitimate right.”

“The police are keeping a watch on us here, yet they are nowhere to be found where atrocities against women are taking place,” Mamata alleged.

Meanwhile, leaders of the rebel TMC faction, including Ritabrata Banerjee and Jadavpur Lok Sabha MP Saayoi Ghosh, under whose seat Baruipur falls, faced slogans of “chor (thief)” and “gaddar (traitor)” when they attempted to visit the victim’s residence.

The CPI(M) has also criticised the police’s role. “The minor girl was missing from 4:30 pm (on July 4). The family informed the police. From her house, the police camp is just a stone’s throw away but the police remained inactive. When villagers started searching and looking at CCTV footage, they identified the culprits and brought them to the police. Local BJP leaders helped them flee. Now, the state government is doing drama to cover all such questions,” alleged Samik Lahiri, a CPI(M) Central Committee member.

Congress state president Subhankar Sarkar said, “Before coming to the power, the BJP announced zero-tolerance on security of women, the then Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari protested against hawker eviction. Now, the BJP government is doing the same things. Police were inactive when the Baruipur victim’s family filed a complaint.”