Samaun Sheikh, the prime accused in the murder of BJP worker Sujit Mondal, died following a police encounter during a crime scene reconstruction in the Dakbangla area of Samserganj in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Tuesday, police said.
According to police, Sheikh allegedly snatched a firearm from an officer and attempted to flee while being taken to the site of the alleged crime in Old Dakbangla. He reportedly fired three rounds, prompting the police to retaliate.
Sheikh sustained gunshot injuries and was taken to Jangipur Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
BJP Worker Sujit Mondal Was Reported Missing in August
Sujit Mondal, a resident of Old Dakbangla in Samserganj, went missing under mysterious circumstances on August 28. His body was subsequently recovered, and the case was investigated as a murder.
Sheikh was arrested in connection with the killing. The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had been investigating the case.
A Jangipur Police District official said Sheikh was taken to the alleged crime scene on Tuesday to reconstruct the sequence of events.
“Today (Tuesday), the accused was taken to the crime scene for a reconstruction of the incident. It was then that the firing occurred. Following this, the accused was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead. It is not possible to provide any further details at this moment,” the official said.
APDR Raises Questions Over Police Encounter
The incident has drawn concern from the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a human rights organisation, which questioned the use of lethal force against an accused person before the completion of judicial proceedings.
Rahul Chakraborty, a member of the organisation’s central committee, told The Observer Post that the rule of law requires criminal allegations to be determined through the judicial process.
“In a democratic and independent India, the rule of law prevails, and under Article 21 of the Constitution, every citizen has the fundamental right to due process. It is the exclusive prerogative of the courts—not the police—to determine whether an individual is guilty of a crime. The police cannot act as judges or sentencing authorities. If a trend emerges in which suspects are summarily ‘killed’ in encounters, it casts a serious shadow over the country’s judicial system,” he said.
Rights Group Warns Against ‘Instant Justice’
Chakraborty also expressed concern over what he described as a trend of delivering “instant justice” through police encounters in different states.
“Recently, a political or administrative trend has emerged in various states and regions: that of delivering ‘instant justice’ through encounters. This sets a dangerous precedent. When an arrested individual or an accused person loses their life before facing the judicial process, the public is deprived of the opportunity to witness the actual course of justice. Furthermore, such encounters eliminate the possibility of uncovering the real masterminds or the underlying conspiracy behind an incident—information that might otherwise have emerged through the questioning of the accused or a witness who turns approver during judicial proceedings,” Chakraborty added.
