Girl's body found in West Bengal, villagers torch police outpost, vandalise vehicles
Kolkata, Oct 5: The body of a 10-year-old girl, allegedly raped and murdered, was found in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday after which locals torched a police outpost and vadalised vehicles parked there, a senior officer said.
Police said one person has been arrested in connection with the rape and murder incident.
Villagers said the girl had been missing since Friday evening and the police "did not act on their complaint immediately".
After the body of the girl was recovered by locals from a marshy land in Jaynagar area early this morning, a mob torched the Mahismari police outpost and pelted policemen with stones.
They also vandalised several vehicles parked outside the outpost and the policemen were forced to leave the premises, a senior officer said.
A huge police force was sent to the area and tear gas shells were fired to disperse the mob which tried to confine the SDPO and other senior personnel at the spot.
"The family members of the girl lodged a complaint at the Mahismari outpost in the area but the police refused to convert it into an FIR and did not act on the complaint immediately. They insisted we go to Joynagar police station for lodging the FIR and as a result, valuable time was lost in tracing the girl," a family member of the girl claimed.
Superintendent of Police, Baruipur Police District, Palash Chandra Dhali told PTI, "We will ensure that the culprit gets capital punishment. We have supported the family throughout and the probe started even before the FIR was lodged."
The police responded in the "same manner" as they did after the body of a woman doctor was found at R G Kar hospital in August, another villager alleged.
"We will continue with our agitation till all those accused in the rape and murder of our minor daughter are arrested and convicts are punished. We also demand action against those who responded to the complaint late, which might have resulted in her death. Had the police acted promptly, the girl could have been rescued," Ganesh Dolui, a villager, said.
Dhali, however, said the action was taken immediately after the complaint was received and an accused was arrested in connection with the alleged rape and murder of the girl.
"After lodging the complaint at 9 pm on Friday, police swung into action and arrested an accused this morning after an initial probe. Investigation is underway and we are with the family of the deceased. Those involved in the arson at the police outpost and destruction of all important documents will be identified and action will be taken against them," the officer added.
Kultali's TMC MLA Ganesh Mondal was chased away by the villagers when he went to the spot to pacify the locals who accused him of trying to support the "police inaction".
Mondal later told reporters that he understood the grievances and anger of the people of the area but they should not take the law in their hands.
"I have requested the police to investigate the matter thoroughly and frame charges against the accused," he said.
"This is a very serious issue and the inspector-in-charge did a commendable job which helped in the arrest of the culprit within a few hours," the SP said.
Meanwhile, TMC MP from Jaynagar, Pratima Mondal, was greeted with 'go back' slogans by a section of people when she went to Padmerhat Rural Hospital where the body of the girl was taken for autopsy.
BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul, former state minister and CPI(M) leader Kanti Ganguly and DYFI leader Meenakshi Mukherjee went to the hospital separately and got engaged in heated arguments with police officers when they wanted to meet the family of the deceased.
Paul demanded that the body of the girl be preserved and the autopsy be done at "a neutral hospital which will not be influenced by the ruling party".
She also demanded a magisterial probe into the incident.
Mukherjee demanded that all the outsiders be moved out of the room where the girl's body had been taken and the movement of people to the room be videographed "so that the evidence cannot be tampered with like what happened in the RG Kar incident".
As demanded by the BJP and the CPI(M), the body of the girl was finally taken to a morgue in Kolkata for subsequent autopsy at a hospital.
As the body was taken to Katapukur morgue in the city, BJP workers, led by Agnimitra Paul scuffled with police who stopped them from entering the premises.
Paul alleged that the police were trying to deflect public focus from the real probe into the incident to cover up its failure.
Expressing shock over the incident, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, "A class 4 girl was abducted, raped and murdered while returning from tuition. Women are not safe in West Bengal. They are being killed even during Devi Paksha (the 15-day period heralding the advent of Goddess Durga since Mahalaya)."
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh called it a heinous crime and said the party wanted exemplary punishment for the guilty.
"However, the BJP and CPI(M) are indulging in vulture politics. I will urge people not to fall into their trap. BJP leaders must explain what happens in the states ruled by their party. We had witnessed shocking incidents of attacks on women during the 34-year rule of the CPI(M) in West Bengal," Ghosh said.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
