In Yogi’s Footsteps: Bengal Police Get A Free Hand Under BJP?

Has West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari decided to copy UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s style? The prime accused in Bengal’s Baruipur rape-murder case, Prabhas Mondal, was shot dead in a police encounter during crime scene reconstruction. Mondal, along with his friends, had raped and killed a 12-year-old girl and thrown her body in a pond.  Mondal’s mother refused to take his body, saying he had shamed the family. But, not surprisingly, political parties like the Samajwadi Party in UP, Trinamool Congress leaders criticised the police encounter, saying it seems to be the beginning of a new type of “goonda raj”. TMC MP Mohua Moitra alleged “this is jungle law” on social media. She wrote, “Bengalis, please welcome new Bengal – Uttar Pradesh 2.0”. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee took out a protest march in Kolkata, and people threw eggs amidst shouts of ‘chor, chor ‘.  By raising questions about this encounter, Trinamool Congress leaders have invited trouble. Bengal BJP leaders are now listing out cases of rape and murders during Didi’s rule, when rapists were shielded by police and in the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case, all evidence of the heinous act was washed away, a few hours after the act. CM Suvendu Adhikari has apparently given the police a free hand. Clearly, Adhikari is following Yogi Adityanath’s model. His supporters say, “No state can progress unless criminals fear police. No investor will go to a state where crime and extortion are rampant. In Bengal, there was ‘goonda raj’ during Mamata Banerjee’s rule; its roots were quite deep, killers and rapists were getting police protection. There is a clear change in the situation now. Naturally, Mamata will not like this.”