West Bengal: The Indian state is on the boil after an 11-year-old boy drowned in Barupur.

Anger at the recovery of the body was seen spilling out into the streets, with mobs vandalizing roads, shops and the local railway station. A youth was beaten to death by the mob – Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari claims he is innocent.

Several policemen were injured and vehicles damaged while trying to control the crowd. Police have so far registered three cases and arrested 40 people.

Tension prevailed in the area as public gatherings were banned and heavy police and army personnel were deployed to maintain peace.

It poses a major challenge to the BJP, which came to power in West Bengal for the first time in May, campaigning heavily to make the state safer for women.

Analysts say that one of the main reasons why three-time Prime Minister Mamata Banerjee lost the election was growing concern over women’s safety and her government’s handling of it. Rape and murder A junior doctor in a government hospital.

This case has been embroiled in political controversy and threatens to draw religious conclusions as the arrested are Hindus even though the victim is a Muslim.

The house of local BJP leader Sushant Mondal was raided by the mob who allegedly helped the suspects. He denied the allegations as “false” and even said he “helped catch the criminals”.

To control public anger, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited the village on Tuesday and spoke to the victim’s family.

“Our government is committed to curbing such incidents in the region. The police are doing what needs to be done. The family has spoken to me. They have lost their beloved daughter. I believe they are satisfied with talking to me.”

Less than 24 hours after that, Prabhash Mondal was killed in a “police encounter”.

In a statement by the Barupur police on Wednesday morning, Mondal was taken to the pond to investigate the crime scene as part of the investigation, but he tried to wrest the weapon from a policeman and opened fire on them.

The police retaliated and shot him dead. The injured accused was taken to the hospital where he died, the statement said.

Although there is no proven case against Mondal, his mother disowned her son and refused to accept his body.

“Two policemen came to my house. I just woke up. They told me my son died and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. I told them I couldn’t because my husband was sick,” she said.

“I said do what you want. I have no objection. My son was punished for what he did. I will not accept the body. I will not even bring the body home,” she added.

Opposition politicians and human rights activists, however, have questioned the killings as being above the law.

Ranjit Sur of the Society for the Protection of Democratic Rights called the case “suspicious”.

According to Sur, the story of police encounters in many states of the country is almost the same – the accused tries to escape by snatching the police weapon and is then killed in the encounter.

In the year In 2019, four people were accused of gang-raping and killing a young woman in Hyderabad He was killed by the police In the encounter.