The family members of Anish Khan, the deceased student leader, on Saturday did not allow the administration to exhume the body. Anish Khan was found dead at his Amta House on February 18 and the death has triggered massive protests across the State.
A magistrate accompanied by several policemen arrived at the residence of the student leader in the early hours of Saturday to exhume the body but his father Salem Khan did not allow them to do so.
Mr. Khan said he was unwell and the body can be taken for the second post-mortem only on February 28. He said the police tried to ‘steal’ the body in the morning which was resisted by the villagers.
The Calcutta High Court had on February 24 directed the second post–mortem by exhuming the body under the supervision of a district judge with the consent of all parties.
“On the direction of Hon’ble High Court, today members of the SIT [Special Investigation Team] accompanied by magistrate went to exhume the body for holding further PM which was prevented fiercely in utter violation of the order of the apex court of WB,” the police tweeted from their official handle.
The State government had on February 21 set up the SIT to probe the death of the 28-year old student.
Later in the day, the situation at Panchla in Howrah turned volatile when the students and the youth wings of the Left parties had laid a siege to the office of the SP, Howrah, rural.
Violence erupted as the protesters threw stones at the police and at the SP’s office. A pitched fight ensued for several minutes. Traffic along the highway next to the SP office was disrupted for some time.
The police fired tear gas shells and several protesters were taken into custody. Siddhi Nath Gupta, Additional DGP and IGP South Bengal who was present at the spot, said 17 persons have been arrested and six tear gas shells were fired by the police to disperse the crowd.
Among those arrested was Minkashi Mukherjee, State secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India. Left Front chairperson Biman Bose said the Left parties will continue to protest as long as the guilty are not brought to book. Eight policemen were injured in the violence.
Ever since the death of the student leader on February 18, protests are being held every day by local villagers and supporters of the Left parties. Over the past few days, the protests have been turning violent. The police on social media said “violent demonstrations are being organised daily at Amta PS and SP office with the ulterior motive of derailing and delaying the investigation”.
The SIT has arrested two policemen, a home guard and a civic police volunteer, but the family is insisting on a CBI probe into the death. Anish Khan’s father had said four persons had barged into his home on February 18 and threw his son from the third storey of the House.
