Kolkata, July 12 (IANS) West Bengal Police on Sunday changed the investigating officer (IO) for the case of the 12-year-old minor girl, allegedly raped and murdered at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district and appointed a more experienced and senior-ranking officer.

Santanu Mukhopadhyay, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) rank officer, has been appointed to investigate the matter. The previous two IOs, who were replaced in succession, were inspector-ranking officers.

The latest change in the IO concerned was announced just a day after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited Baruipur and assured the family members of prompt completion of the investigation and early conviction of all the accused in the ghastly crime.

This is the second time that the IO in the rape and murder case has been changed since the body of the victim girl was recovered from a pond at Suryapur area under Baruipur on the morning of July 5. First, Diganta Mondal, an inspector-ranking officer from Baruipur Police District, under whose jurisdiction the scene of the crime came, was appointed as the IO in the case.

Later, he was changed, and former inspector-in-charge of Baruipur Police Station, Jayanta Poddar, was appointed as the new IO. And now, he has also been replaced by Mukhopadhya, a DSP-ranking officer.

So far, four persons have been arrested in connection with the crime against the minor girl. One of them, Pravas Mondal, was killed in an encounter last week as he was trying to escape from police custody by snatching the firearm of an escorting cop.

The state police are investigating two other parallel cases related to the matter. The first is the killing of an innocent 26-year-old youth, Indrajit Tanti, in a mob lynching on the afternoon of July 5 by a group of local people protesting after the recovery of the minor girl’s body from the pond earlier in the day. Already five persons, reportedly the masterminds behind the lynching who falsely and deliberately identified Tanti as an accused, have been arrested.

The second case is about the massive violence in the area on Sunday afternoon, where property like railway tracks and police vehicles were vandalised, and police personnel were attacked and injured. Already, 42 people have been arrested in this connection.

–IANS

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