The Trinamul Congress on Thursday alleged that the prime accused in the alleged rape and murder of a Class XII student in Nadia’s Krishnanagar had participated in the protests against the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
"Some of the social media posts of the prime accused in the Krishnanagar case, Rahul Basu, show that he had participated in the RG Kar protests organised to demand justice for the victim," said Debangshu Bhattacharya, the Trinamul’s state information technology cell in-charge.
"He had raised 'We Want Justice' slogans. But today, we saw how he is involved in a rape-murder case," he added.
The body of the Class XII student was found near a Durga Puja pandal in Krishnanagar, around 119 km north of Calcutta, early on Wednesday morning, with the face burnt and clothes torn. The accused, Rahul, who reportedly had a brief relationship with the victim, was arrested on Wednesday and is in police custody.
The Krishnanagar cops suspect the murder was committed elsewhere and the body dumped at the site which is near the office of the district superintendent of police.
"If you open his [the accused's] Facebook profile, you'll see numerous posts seeking justice for the RG Kar victim and also calling for CM Mamata Banerjee's resignation," Bhattacharya alleged.
"Sadly, the person who was once seeking justice has now turned out to be the prime accused in the Krishnanagar case. This shows how, under the garb of 'We Want Justice,' people with such evil motives are roaming around in society,” he said.
The Krishnanagar victim’s family members have alleged that she was gang-raped and murdered.
The girl had left home to meet the accused and never returned. On her Facebook profile, a post appeared late in the night that said no one was responsible for her death, and wished her family well.
The family members had repeatedly called the victim’s cell phone but they went unanswered.
The state ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said on Thursday that a special investigation team, which will be assisted by the state CID, has been formed to probe the incident. After the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Kolkata Police, too, had set up an SIT.
Bhattacharya said what had started as a people’s movement – Reclaim the Night – had been hijacked by the political rivals of the ruling party.
Trinamul leader Kunal Ghosh had on Wednesday predicted that RG kar protests would have no impact on the upcoming bypolls in six Assembly seats of Bengal scheduled for next month.
“Several political elements are hidden in this 'We Want Justice' crowd and one of the forerunners is CPM," Bhattacharya said.
"Those who sought CM Mamata Banerjee's removal are not common citizens. Either they have political backing or they have an evil mentality like Rahul Basu. It was common citizens who initially participated in the Reclaim The Night protest event on August 14 but once they realised it had been taken over by political forces, they stepped away. The people of Bengal have understood this very well,” he said.
The post-mortem of the Krishnanagar girl, conducted at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial hospital in Nadia’s Kalyani, revealed the victim was set ablaze while she was alive, though acid was not used, as the family had initially suspected.
