Birbhum — Ratan Sheikh, the prime accused in Friday evening's Santiniketan shooting that left a police constable injured, was killed in a police encounter in the Nanoor area of West Bengal's Birbhum district on Sunday, police said. According to district police officers, Sheikh was taken to Nanoor to recover the pistol allegedly used in Friday's shooting when he allegedly opened fire on the police team; officers said they returned fire in self-defence. He was taken to Bolpur Subdivisional Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Source: PTI via The Daily Jagran

The encounter is the latest development in the case Awaaz Punjab reported earlier, when Sheikh allegedly shot Constable Biswajit Das during an arrest attempt on Friday and a district-wide manhunt was launched to trace him.

Read the earlier report on the Santiniketan shooting and the manhunt. Santiniketan constable shot, manhunt launched

What happened on Friday

On Friday evening, a three-member police team went to the Layek Bazar area of Bolpur, under Santiniketan police station, to apprehend Sheikh. Police said that on spotting the team, Sheikh allegedly opened fire, injuring Constable Biswajit Das in his left leg, and fled. Das is being treated at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, where doctors have described his condition as stable. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari visited the injured constable on Saturday, and a manhunt was ordered to trace Sheikh.

Source: ANI via Khel Ja

36 cases, recently out on bail

Police and the Chief Minister said 36 criminal cases were registered against Sheikh. Adhikari said Sheikh had recently been released on bail in a robbery case and had returned to the area last Friday. A senior police officer said Sheikh's death was the fifth police encounter killing in West Bengal since the BJP came to power in May. District police officers said the Birbhum district police had not issued a formal statement on the death till Sunday evening.

Source: Fact (news report)

"No place for goons in West Bengal": CM

Speaking to ANI after the encounter, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said: "He shot at the police, and the police did what needed to be done on the spot. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on this. There is no place for goons and rapists in West Bengal. Even now, whatever remaining goons and those with illegal arms are left, flee from here; leave immediately. There is no place for them here." State ministers Agnimitra Paul and Umesh Rai also defended the police action, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Khel Ja

Police accounts of the Nanoor firing are allegations about what happened during the recovery operation and remain subject to the official inquiry process that follows an encounter death. Further details were awaited from the district police.