The prime accused in Bengal’s Baruipur rape-murder case Prabhas Mondal was shot dead in a police encounter during crime scene reconstruction. Mondal along with his friends had raped and killed a 12 year old girl and threw her body in a pond. Mondal was shot by police near the same pond during crime scene reconstruction, when he tried to snatch a policeman’s rifle.
Bengal Police has arrested the fourth accused in this case Kabir Mollah. Already, there have been state-wide protests against this heinous gangrape and murder case. There was so much public outrage that when news came about the death of Mondal in the encounter, his mother refused to take his body saying he has shamed the family. Surprisingly, Trinamool Congress leaders criticized the police encounter saying that this seems to be the beginning of a new type of “goonda raj”.
TMC MP Mohua Moitra alleged “this is jungle law” on social media. She wrote, “Bengalis, please welcome new Bengal – Uttar Pradesh 2.0″ In the evening when TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee brought out a protest march in Kolkata, people threw eggs amidst shouts of ‘chor, chor (thief)’. By raising questions about this encounter, Trinamool Congress leaders have invited trouble.
BJP leaders are now listing out cases of rape and murders during Mamata Banerjee’s rule, when rapists were shielded by police and in the R. G. Kar Hospital rape-murder case, all evidence of the heinous act were washed away, a few hours after the act. During Mamata Banerjee’s rule, policemen were either shielding criminals or were hiding on seeing criminals.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has now given police a free hand. Bengal police has started action. Clearly, Adhikari is following Yogi Adityanath’s model. No state can progress unless criminals fear police. No investor will go to a state where crime and extortion are rampant. In Bengal, there was “goonda raj” during Mamata Banerjee’s rule, its roots were quite deep, killers and rapists were getting police protection. There is clear change in the situation now. Naturally, Mamata will not like this.
FBI action : Curb gangster networks in Indian jails
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has launched a sweeping crackdown named ‘Operation Hard Ball’ against jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his close aid Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar. This follows a years-long investigation targeting criminal syndicates involved in murder, extortion, drug trafficking and other organised crime activities in USA, Canada and Europe.
24 criminals have been arrested in USA, Canada and Europe. US Department of Justice (DOJ) said, searches were carried out in more than 50 locations and suspects were nabbed from California, Indiana, Georgia, Canada and Spain. The DOJ said, 37 accused have been charged across three separate federal indictments involving three organised crime groups with links to India. Of them, 24 have been arrested, while 10 remain fugitives. One of the three federal indictments focuses on gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, presently inside an Indian jail, whom US prosecutors allege, directed a global criminal enterprise from a prison in India.
According to court documents, Bishnoi and Brar ordered the assassination of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, in 2023. US prosecutors also named Bishnoi’s key associates Goldy Brar and Rohit Godara. They said, while Brar looked after North America operations, Godara oversaw operations in Europe. FBI has declared a $50,000 bounty for the arrest of Goldy Brar. Another gang led by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria was described by prosecutors as one which was active in US, Canda, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The FBI probe also found collusion between some Punjab Police officers with the gangs. FBI has made Gurinderjit Singh Nagra, SHO of Tanda police station in Hoshiarpur, as accused and his extradition has been sought.
FBI alleged Nagra had connections with Bhagwanpuria gang and had extorted $4 lakh from a family in the US by sending threats from Bhagwanpuria gang. After the exposure by FBI, Punjab Police has sent SHO Nagra to police lines and has asked DIG Jalandhar to probe the charges. It is no more a secret that Lawrence Bishnoi used to run a criminal network from inside an Indian jail. His gang members were active in extorting money from victims. The latest development is that FBI has collected evidence about the hands of Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar gangs in murders and extortions.
FBI now says, if all these gangsters are extradited to the US, they will not be able to extort or kill. This comment raises questions about Indian jails. Criminals who are behind bars in India have given interviews and have even posted threatening videos on social media. They have been extorting money too. How can it be possible? How do they get access to phones and internet inside jails? We, in India, must have a system so that a criminal sitting inside jail cannot communicate with the outside world.