Kolkata, July 12 (IANS) Two more persons have been arrested in connection with the lynching of a youth, 26-year-old Indrajit Tanti, on July 5 at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district over the alleged rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl following search operations.

With these two fresh arrests, the total number of arrests in the case had increased to seven. The two, arrested after a night-long search, will be presented at a district court in South 24 Parganas later in the day, and the public prosecutor will seek their police custody.

The seven arrested persons in the case so far are Farooq Sardar, Rajesh Sardar, Shariful Mallick, Sabiuddin Vaidya, Farid Sheikh, Abu Siddique Sardar and Shamim Ali Khan.

Cases have been registered against them under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, relating to unlawful assembly, rioting, obstructing the work of a public servant, wilfully causing hurt to a public person and murder by lynching.

The number of arrests in connection with the case might increase in the coming days, said officials.

Incidentally, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari went to Baruipur on Saturday afternoon and handed over a compensation cheque of Rs 25 lakh to the family members of the 26-year-old youth killed in a mob lynching, who had already been declared innocent in the case of the alleged rape and murder of the minor girl following investigation by the police.

The Chief Minister also announced the job of a civic volunteer in the state police for the elder brother of the victim and also said those who were rejected by the people in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly polls were behind the mob-lynching conspiracy.

Three cases have been registered by the police in the Baruipur incident, and separate investigations are underway.

The first case is in relation to the alleged rape and murder of the minor girl. The second case is in relation to the mob-lynching killing of the youth. The third 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 persons have been arrested in this connection.

In the first case, that is on the rape and murder of the minor girl, four persons have been arrested so far. 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.

–IANS

src/dpb