West Bengal Police shot dead an interstate fugitive accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl late Sunday night, ending a four-day manhunt in an armed encounter along the Bengal-Bihar border.
Police cornered the suspect in Parapukur under the Gouri gram panchayat jurisdiction following a targeted tip-off. When the raid team moved in, the accused opened fire with a country-made firearm, piercing the tyre of an official police vehicle. Officers fired back in immediate self-defence. He collapsed with critical gunshot trauma and was pronounced dead on arrival at Raiganj Medical College and Hospital.
The pursuit began after security camera footage captured the suspect riding a bicycle with the 12-year-old child seated behind him through Dinajpur hours before she disappeared. He wore a pink shirt and dark trousers. The victim recognized him as an acquaintance and referred to him as 'Jethu'—an uncle. Investigators established that he lured the child to an isolated stretch near the Kulik River under the pretext of showing her the water, where he assaulted and killed her.
His trail turned sinister in the hours following her disappearance. As the victim's frantic family mounted a search across the district, the suspect approached the father, pocketed ₹300 in cash, and promised to lead them to the child. He fled immediately afterward. Two days later, search parties discovered the minor's remains inside dense forest brush along the Kulik River, prompting the family to lodge formal murder and rape complaints.
"We had been searching for the accused for the past four days," a senior police official confirmed. "Acting on a tip-off, our team traced him in Parapukur near the Bengal-Bihar border. He opened fire at the police team, who retaliated in self-defence."
Suvendu Adhikari defended the tactical action taken by the arresting team, emphasizing that the state maintains zero tolerance toward predatory offenses. "Do police shoot every accused? When someone attacks police, they retaliate in self-defence," Adhikari stated, noting that field units have clear mandates to neutralize violent threats without waiting for bureaucratic clearance during active encounters involving rape, murder, and border security.
District authorities have forwarded the case files to the magistrate for standard statutory inquiries into the police shooting, while forensic specialists examine the recovered firearm and ballistics from the Parapukur encounter site.