Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday defended the killing of a rape-murder accused in a police encounter in Uttar Dinajpur, saying personnel can fire in self-defence, as he asserted that his government had given the force a free hand to deal with rapists, drug traffickers and infiltrators.

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The chief minister's remarks came amid a series of police firing incidents since the BJP came to power in the state in May, with Monday's killing in Raiganj marking the fourth reported encounter death in five months.

Addressing reporters in Digha in Purba Medinipur district, Adhikari, who also holds the police portfolio, said police personnel did not shoot every accused but were authorised to act without waiting for clearance from their superiors in cases involving rape and murder, drug trafficking and infiltration from Bangladesh.

"Do police shoot every accused? When someone attacks police, they retaliate in self-defence. Is the police supposed to keep its gun in its pocket?" he said.

"The government has given the police a free hand in certain cases. They need not wait for permission from their superiors to act. There is absolutely zero tolerance towards rape and murder, drug trafficking and infiltration," Adhikari said.

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar backed the state government's position, saying the BJP government had zero tolerance towards sexual offences and rape and would ensure that criminals were punished in accordance with the law.

"If a criminal shoots at the police, will the police throw laddoos at him? They too will open fire," Majumdar said.

The statements underline the BJP government's attempt to project a tough law-and-order approach, in contrast to what it has described as years of political patronage to criminals under the previous Left Front and Trinamool Congress regimes.

At a Kali Puja programme organised by a traders' forum in Digha, Adhikari said his government had launched an extensive crackdown on drug networks, with several rackets busted in police operations over the past week.

"There is no place in Bengal for drug mafias, rapists and infiltrators," he said, urging people to remain vigilant against forces he alleged were attempting to disrupt the state's social and political environment.

The chief minister also warned against the resurgence of extortion, describing it as a legacy of the TMC regime, and said strict action would be taken if such practices resurfaced under the new government.

Adhikari further directed the police to take stringent action against stone-throwing during religious programmes, claiming that no one had dared to disrupt religious processions, idol immersions or other religious events since the BJP assumed power.

He accused the previous Left Front and TMC governments of undermining Bengal's cultural and religious traditions.

The latest encounter took place in Raiganj on Monday when Dilip Roy, accused of raping and murdering his 12-year-old niece, allegedly fired at a police team conducting a raid to arrest him at a village in the district, police said.

Police personnel retaliated, injuring Roy. He was taken to Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, an officer said.

The incident follows the July killing of Prabhas Mondal, accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.

On October 27, two other accused -- Prahlad Das, arrested in connection with the recovery of a Class 11 student's body in Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district, and Samaul Haque, accused of murdering a BJP worker in Samserganj in Murshidabad district -- were killed in separate police firing incidents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Mathrubhumi and is published from a syndicated feed.)