Kolkata: A man accused of raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district was killed in a police encounter on Monday morning, police said, marking the fourth such incident in the state since the BJP government came to power in May.
The accused, identified as Dilip Roy, was killed during a police operation in Parapukur village in Raiganj, where a team had gone to apprehend him after he remained absconding for four days.
According to police, Roy opened fire at the personnel during the raid, with a bullet hitting the tyre of their vehicle. The police retaliated, injuring him. He was subsequently taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The incident follows the disappearance of the minor girl on November 3. According to her family, she had left home on her bicycle but did not return. Her body was recovered from a forested area near the Kulik River on November 5.
The family alleged that she had been raped and murdered. Police said Roy, a relative of the victim and a resident of Jharkhand, had allegedly taken her to the forest on the pretext of showing her the river before fleeing after the crime.
Police received information around 2 am on Monday that the accused was hiding near the Bihar border. A subsequent operation was launched in the Parapukur area. He was reportedly attempting to escape West Bengal through Bihar.
Meanwhile, the incident is the fourth reported police encounter involving accused persons since the BJP government assumed office in May.
According to figures obtained through an RTI application filed by TMC leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale, West Bengal registered 2,454 rape cases, 600 murder cases and 13,114 attempted murder cases between May 1 and September 24, 2026.
The state also recorded 32,341 cases of causing grievous hurt during the period, the data attributed to the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) showed.
Of the rape cases, 349 were registered in May, 389 in June, 786 in July, 459 in August and 471 between September 1 and 24.
