West Bengal police ‘encounters’: the events and the questions they raise | Explained

The story so far: Within a gap of 12 hours on October 27, the police in West Bengal gunned down two murder accused in two separate districts of the State. Prahlad Das, a 23-year-old accused in the rape and murder of a teenager, was killed at Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district, while 46 -year-old Samiul Sheikh, who was accused of murdering a BJP worker, was killed at Dhulian in Murshidabad district.

According to the police, both the ‘encounters’ occurred during the crime scene reconstruction. In both the cases, the police said the accused snatched a service revolver, fired at officers, and died in the retaliatory firing that ensued.

A similar account was presented by the police earlier in July, when a Prabhas Mondal, accused in rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, was killed during crime scene reconstruction at Baruipur. The accused, according to the police, had snatched a weapon from the police officers and tried to run away.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to power in West Bengal, five people — three of them accused of murder and two charged with sexual assault of minors — have been killed in police encounters

CM’s promise to make Bengal ‘free of goons’

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari did not directly comment on the encounters and said that the matter was being looked into by the police-CID. However, he was quick to add, “Let a few days pass. We will make the entire state free from goons.

As Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly from 2021- 26, the BJP leader had said that when the party comes to power in the State those accused of sexual assault on women will not be produced before a court. “We will deposit them in the morning and spend them in the evening,” Mr. Adhikari had said.

The Chief Minister and other BJP leaders from the State have often hailed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s approach to tackling crime. The recent encounter deaths in West Bengal have prompted Opposition parties to ask whether the State is attempting to replicate Uttar Pradesh’s approach to law and order.

Mr. Adhikari’s Cabinet colleague and former West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh recalled repeated promises over the years of bringing the “Yogi model” of encounters to Bengal once the BJP comes to power in West Bengal.

“West Bengal has a real citizens’ government now, which means zero mercy for rapists and extortionists. First Baruipur, now Gaighata! Consider this a non-negotiable warning for the people who harm the dignity of women!” West Bengal BJP posted on social media.

Explained | Police encounters in India: cases, convictions and court orders

Opposition’s stance on the encounters

The Opposition parties in West Bengal have criticised the incidents and emphasised that police should ensure rule of law rather than delivering quick justice. “Encounters may be a source of publicity. But there ought to be a rule of law in the country,” said Mamata Banerjee loyalist and Ballygunge MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Md. Salim called the incidents as ‘staged encounters’, alleging a sharp rise in crime and mob violence under the BJP regime.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised questions on the competence of the police if accused are able to snatch their weapons often. “If the police in West Bengal lack the courage or training to keep their guns secured in their holsters, and a criminal can snatch their revolver and open fire in these incidents in the same manner, should we consider the state police competent, or should we think about giving them new training?” Mr. Chowdhury asked.

Even civil rights groups have raised questions about the recent encounters. Ranajit Sur of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) called the circumstances of the encounters “suspicious”. Mr. Sur asked why the accused in Gaighata was taken out at midnight for reconstruction of the crime scene, allegedly with his hands unrestrained. The mother of the 23-year-old accused raised similar questions, pointing out that his hands had been tied when he was picked up from his home.

What does the law say on encounter deaths?

Article 21 of the Constitution ensures that the state cannot arbitrarily take a person’s life. The right to life includes the right to live with human dignity, meaning police action must strictly adhere to legal boundaries rather than serving as a punitive measure. The police can use lethal force only in genuine self-defence (the right of private defence, now in Sections 34-44 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita), and that claim must be tested by an investigation. Like anyone else, a police officer’s use of force must remain proportional to the threat. Under Section 37(2) of the BNS, the right of private defence never extends to inflicting more harm than is necessary for the purpose of defence.

In the case of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) v. State of Maharashtra (2014) The Supreme Court held that extrajudicial killings by police are not permissible and laid down 16 mandatory guidelines that have the force of law under Article 141 of the Constitution. These guidelines include registering an FIR, independent investigation, mandatory evidence collection, magisterial inquiry, informing human rights bodies. Section 196(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) states an independent inquiry by the jurisdictional Magistrate is mandatory whenever a person dies or disappears, or when rape is alleged, while in police custody or any other custody authorized by a Magistrate or Court.

The West Bengal Human Rights Commission has taken up the Gaighata encounter. On October 27, acting on a suggestion from member Justice Madhumati Mitra, Commission chairperson Justice (retd.) I.P. Mukherjee directed the Superintendent of Police, Bongaon Police District, to submit a detailed report by November 6 and to preserve all evidence related to the incident.

Why is police ‘parading’ the accused under scrutiny?

Opposition parties and civil rights groups have also raised questions about reports of the police parading accused persons, often semi-clad or in their underwear, in public on the pretext of crime scene reconstruction. On October 27, two days after an 18-year-old, his father and the youth’s friend were forced to walk naked at gunpoint in Behala’s Sarsuna by family members of a 13-year-old girl, as punishment for the teenager allegedly kissing her, Kolkata Police paraded three of the accused shirtless and barefoot at the same spot, saying they were “recreating the crime scene”.

Several reports of accused persons being paraded, not just with ropes tied around their waists but also in vests and underwear, had surfaced earlier from Howrah, Kolkata and other parts of the State. The arrests, mostly of people against whom several allegations of extortion have been made, have taken place after the BJP came to power in the State.

On June 5, 2026, the Calcutta High Court observed that the State has the authority to arrest and prosecute individuals but cannot subject them to humiliation. “The police... can take action according to the law. If found guilty, they can also hang him. But they cannot deliberately defame the accused in the name of arrest,” the court observed.