Mamata Banerjee Dials Mother Of Woman Shot Dead By Cop

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday called up the mother of the young woman who was killed by a stray bullet during the firing by a police constable near Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in the city and promised monetary compensation and financial help.

The mother told reporters at her Dasnagar residence in neighbouring Howrah that Ms Banerjee had called her around 3.30 pm and promised Rs 5 lakh as monetary compensation, besides a job for her college-going brother and financial help for her ailing, unemployed father.

"She (Ms Banerjee) consoled me and inquired about my health. She expressed her grief over the incident. Her words were comforting for the family which has lost its child," the grieving mother said.

"When I requested for help didi assured me that my son will get a job befitting his educational qualifications and my husband will be helped to set up a shop," she said.

Expressing shock at how the policeman went berserk and fired at innocent civilians, she said "I requested didi (elder sister as Mamata Banerjee is often referred to) to see that people with such killer mindsets are not inducted into the force in future. I have lost my child, God forbid others may lose their near ones in future if such elements are kept in the force and similar incidents happen."

A police constable suddenly fired several rounds from his self-loading rifle near the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in central Kolkata's busy Park Circus area on Friday afternoon killing a woman and injuring two people before shooting himself dead, police said.

The incident occurred around 2.30 pm, a few hundred metres away from the seven-point crossing where thousands of people had rallied to protest against the inflammatory remarks made by suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

Rima Singha who was pillion riding on a bike taxi, was hit by a bullet and died on the spot and the policeman after firing a few more rounds shot himself in the head, the police said.

Constable Chodhup Lepcha, who belonged to the Eighth Battalion of Kolkata Armed Police, had fired at least 15-20 rounds and had also injured two by-standers, a senior police officer said.

He had specifically targetted the woman as the two-wheeler was passing by, the police officer said.

The incident had no connection with the protest near the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, he asserted. Lepcha was probably mentally depressed, he added.

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