CPI(M) leader arrested in connection with violent protests following Baruipur rape-murder

Kolkata, Jul 12 (PTI) CPI(M) leader Lahek Ali was arrested on Sunday in connection with the violence that broke out during the protest over the rape and murder of a girl in West Bengal's Baruipur town, police said. Ali is the first political leader to be arrested in connection with the violence that broke out in Surjyapur in South 24 Pargana district's Baruipur police station area on July 5 after the incident came to light. The body of the girl, who had gone missing on July 4, was recovered from a pond in the Surjyapur Haat area the next day, triggering massive protests that eventually turned violent, with an enraged mob allegedly lynching a young man on suspicion of involvement in the crime. The demonstrators also vandalised police vehicles, torched tyres and blocked roads, disrupting normal life in the area. Police claimed that Ali instigated the violence. Ali was the CPI(M) candidate in the Baruipur Paschim seat in the assembly elections held earlier this year. One of the prime accused in the rape and murder case was killed in an alleged police encounter on July 8 after he "tried to escape from police custody" during reconstruction of the crime scene. PTI COR BSM SOM