4th rape-murder accused held, 18 others in net for violence | Kolkata News

Baruipur: Kabir Mollah, the fourth accused in the rape and murder of the 12-year-old girl in Baruipur, was arrested on Wednesday by a team comprising officers of Special Operation Group of the Baruipur police district and Special Task Force of Bengal Police. Mollah, in his late 20s, fled to Basirhat, officers said.Almost coinciding with Mollah’s arrest, Baruipur police rounded up 18 persons in overnight raids for their alleged role in the lynching of 26-year-old Indrajit Tanti, setting fire to govt properties and attacking the police. The accused are all residents of Surjyapur and Alipur, two adjoining villages in Baruipur.The coordinated raids came hours after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari read the riot act to police and said the lynched youth was not part of the gang that brutalised the girl.Two more persons were detained for questioning.Police sources said Mollah is a resident of Surjyapur, the village where the families of three other accused — Prabhas Mondal, Dibakar Sardar and Ananda Sardar — live. Before his death, Prabhas referred to Raja, and later to Prabir Mondal, as the fourth accused. But police later realised that Prabir was a non-existent person.“Mollah was identified as the fourth suspect based on phone records and other evidence. He was hiding in Basirhat since Sunday,” an officer said.Among the 18 arrested, two are charged with lynching, nine with assaulting cops and seven with destroying public property. A Baruipur court has ordered nine days’ police custody for those accused of lynching and eight days for the others. The families of the accused said they have been framed.