Kolkata: Mamta Banerjee government registers the first police encounter in West Bengal, marking an unprecedented step in Bengal’s police history. The incident in Uttar Dinajpur district after police fired at a fleeing mafia member trying to flee from a prison van.
The incident follows a stark warning by West Bengal’s Director General of Police, Rajeev Kumar, who had earlier said, “If someone fires one bullet, we will return four.” The case has raised questions about the state’s evolving approach to crime control. While states such as Uttar Pradesh have drawn attention for encounter killings in recent years, West Bengal had hitherto largely eschewed such tactics.
This is a first after 14 years of Banerjee’s rule when no such event was reported. Now 70, Mamata Banerjee first came to power in West Bengal on 20 May 2011. On 27 May 2016 she was re-elected for a second term, and in 2021, she guided her party to an unprecedented victory that has set her up for a third consecutive term in office.
Her political career started with the student wing of the Congress party, and over the years, she has remained focused on one objective — dethroning the Left Front from power in Bengal. Banerjee has made and broken a number of alliances in her fight to dethrone the Left. She cannot shed her association with NDA at the centre, partnership with Congress and then her own party.
Her efforts finally put an end to the Left Front’s three-and-a-half-decade rule in West Bengal. Another noteworthy fact is that Banerjee was also India’s first female Railway Minister.
This new approach to law enforcement is being implemented by the West Bengal police, and with this in place, people are left wondering what the next step in crime control for the state will be, and what outcomes can be expected regarding this controversy.