Villagers set police outpost on fire after 9-yr-old’s body found

Joynagar (South 24 Parganas): Villagers of Mahismari in South 24 Parganas' Joynagar went on the rampage after a nine-year-old girl's battered and bruised body was found in a ditch near her home early on Saturday morning.The girl was missing since Friday afternoon and her father had lodged a police complaint in the evening. Her family and neighbours alleged she was raped and murdered and accused cops of "only a perfunctory response" when the girl's parents lodged the complaint. Protesters ransacked the Mahismari police outpost and set it on fire and beat back cops who retreated more than a kilometre to escape the rampage.Cops arrested Mostakin Sardar, a 19-year-old resident of the same village, for the murder of the Class 4 student. "We are interrogating him. He has admitted to killing the girl but has denied raping her. We are waiting for the post-mortem report," Baruipur police super Palash Chandra Dhali said.The girl left home to go to her tutor's place barely a kilometre away around 2pm on Friday and that was the last they saw her, her parents said. "She usually returns by 3.30pm and we got worried when she did not till 5.30. We started looking for her and called up her friends but none had seen her. We lodged a complaint at Mahismari police outpost around 7pm but cops showed no urgency in either registering a complaint or starting a search," said the girl's father.The girl's body — with multiple injury marks and tattered clothes — was found in a ditch eight hours later. The villagers' spontaneous protests started as day broke and hundreds joined in as news spread. The mob torched the Mahismari police outpost, pelted cops with stones and vandalised several vehicles parked outside.A huge police force, led by the Baruipur sub-divisional police officer, reached the area after some time and burst tear gas shells to quell the mob, which attacked the SDPO with brooms and sticks. Twelve policemen were injured."We will continue our agitation till the accused are punished. We demand action against cops who delayed acting on the complaint. The girl could possibly have been rescued had cops acted promptly," one of the girl's neighbours, Ganesh Dolui, said. Officials, however, said action was taken immediately after the complaint was received and the prime suspect was arrested within a few hours of the body being found."Investigation is on and we are with the family of the deceased. But we will also act against those involved in the arson at the police outpost and responsible for destroying important documents," an official said.Politicians descended on the village since Saturday morning. Kultali MLA Ganesh Mandal and Joynagar MP Pratima Mandal faced multiple rounds of protests. The MP also got into an argument with BJP leader Agnimitra Paul. "Why did cops refuse to act after receiving the complaint?" Paul asked. CPM leaders, too, visited the village. Protesters clashed with cops a second time when the girl's body reached the morgue in Mominpur for a post-mortem investigation.
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