A major development in a gruesome assault and murder case in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district has culminated in the death of the primary suspect during a police encounter. Prahlad Das, accused of raping and brutally killing a minor schoolgirl in Gaighata under the Bongaon subdivision, was shot dead by police officers in the early hours of Tuesday, 27 October, after attempting to flee custody and opening fire on law enforcement personnel.
The incident unfolded prior to dawn as officers escorted Das back to the crime scene for a formal crime scene reconstruction, a standard investigative procedure. On the return journey to the police station, Das suddenly overpowered a police officer, snatched his service revolver, and fired at least three rounds towards the police vehicle. One officer sustained injuries in the surprise attack. Attempting to evade rearrest, Das leaped into a roadside waterbody under cover of darkness.
In response to the imminent threat, another officer on scene fired four rounds in self-defence and to regain control of the escalating situation. Das collapsed from gunshot wounds and was rushed in critical condition to the Chandpara Rural Hospital, where attending medical staff declared him dead on arrival.
The tragic sequence of events began on Sunday morning when local residents discovered the partially clothed body of the young schoolgirl behind a house in Gaighata. According to statements provided by the victim’s mother, the girl had gone missing the previous evening after attending a neighborhood gathering. Following the discovery, the victim’s family alleged that she had been subjected to severe sexual violence before being murdered. Suspicion quickly fell upon Das, a distant relative of the victim, leading to the filing of a formal complaint and his subsequent arrest by Gaighata police. During preliminary interrogations, Das had reportedly confessed to his involvement in the crime.
News of the suspect’s death triggered widespread relief among residents of the Baidyabari area, with the victim’s family expressing a sense of swift justice following the tragedy. The stretch of road where the shooting took place remains cordoned off by heavy police barricades as forensic experts gather evidence.
This marks the second high-profile encounter of a rape suspect in West Bengal in recent months. A similar incident occurred in Baruipur last July, when another accused individual was shot dead after seizing an officer’s weapon. At the time, the state’s leadership reiterated a zero-tolerance policy regarding violence against women, emphasizing that law enforcement agencies would take strict, uncompromising measures to curb violent crime across the region.
