Prabhas Mondal, the main accused in the Baruipur minor rape and murder case, was shot dead while he tried to escape 'from police custody' during the reconstruction of the crime scene.

The accused was taken to Suryapur in Baruipur at around 12:45 a.m. on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday for the reconstruction of the crime scene.

While trying to reconstruct the crime scene after midnight, Mondal tried to snatch the firearm and escape. Police retaliated in self-defence after the accused fired one round.

He was rushed to Baruipur Hospital after sustaining bullet injuries but was declared dead.

The accused was one of the prime suspects in the case and had been seen with the victim in CCTV footage before the alleged rape and murder of the girl.

He was one of the three accused arrested. The two others have been named as Ananda Sardar and Dibakar Sardar.

The body of the girl, who had gone missing on July 4, was found stuffed in a sack in Surjyapur Haat area the next day, triggering a protest by locals who blocked the Baruipur-Joynagar Road, burnt tyres and damaged a few police vehicles, demanding the arrest of the accused persons.

Hours after the girl's body was recovered on Sunday (July 5), a man was beaten to death by angry locals on suspicion of involvement in the girl's death.

Three people were arrested in connection with the rape-murder case. A six-member special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the matter.

Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday directed Director General of Police Sidd Nath Gupta to submit a report in the rape-murder case of a minor in Baruipur, and said that the person who was lynched by a mob in the aftermath of the incident was innocent.

Adhikari also said that action will be taken against around 200 identified people, who allegedly vandalised public property, damaged police vehicles and railway tracks during the protest that followed the recovery of the 11-year-old girl's body on Sunday.