Kolkata, July 9 (IANS) The West Bengal Police informed on Thursday that 22 more suspects have been apprehended in the last 24 hours. They have been identified in connection with the lynching of a youth, attacking police, vandalism of public property, including police vehicles and railway tracks, and the outbreak of violence that occurred after the death of a minor girl, who was allegedly raped and killed in Baruipur, South 24 Parganas district.

With the arrests of these 22 individuals during the last 24 hours, the total arrests in this connection so far have increased to 42.

To recall, the body of the 12-year-old minor girl was recovered from a pond in the Suryapur area in Baruipur on Sunday morning. Following the development, major tension and violence broke out in the area.

First, a group of agitated people lynched a 26-year-old Indrajit Tanti out of suspicion of involvement in the girl’s death. The youth was declared innocent by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari as per the findings of the police investigation into the matter.

Thereafter, the violent mob resorted to massive violence in the area by vandalising public property like police vehicles and railway tracks. Some policemen were also severely injured in that violence.

The Chief Minister then said that just as those involved in the crime against the minor girl would not be spared, the police would identify those involved in the violence in the area and vandalising public property.

Following the Chief Minister’s announcement, the police started identifying those involved in the violence and lynching of that youth, and till Thursday morning, as many as 42 persons have been arrested.

On Wednesday, Pravas Mondal, the first of the four arrested accused persons in the minor girl’s case, was killed in a police encounter as he tried to escape by snatching the firearm of a cop.

The prime accused in the case, Ananda Sardar, is currently in police custody. The other two arrested accused persons in this case are Kabir Molla and Dibakar Sardar. Molla was the last person to be arrested in the girl’s death case.

–IANS

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