Bengal student leader’s death: SIT arrests homeguard, civic volunteer

Bera and two other policemen were suspended on Tuesday. According to sources, the arrested police personnel were on patrolling duty on the night of the incident. Both were posted at Amta police station in Howrah.

Addressing a press conference at state secretariat Nabanna on Wednesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the move (arrest) comes as the two police personnel “could have influenced the investigation in the case.”

“The case is being investigated from all angles. I have directed the police to carry out an impartial probe. We don’t know what actually happened but we will find out the truth soon. No laxity will be tolerated,” the CM said.

According to Anis’s family, the 28-year-old died on the night of February 18 after being thrown off the second floor of his residence by four persons, one of whom was in police uniform and another in civil volunteer uniform, in Howrah’s Sarada Dakshin Khan Para village.

Meanwhile, Anis’s family members on Wednesday refused to allow the SIT to perform a second post-mortem. The team had to return with the two cops held magistrate and a team of doctors without exhuming the body.

Amid protests calling for a CBI investigation into the case, the CM said, “The administration is taking strict action. Let the police do their job. I grew up leading many protests. You have the right to protest but not to harass people. Yesterday (Tuesday), many couldn’t reach the airport on time due to a road blockade. Stop all this, don’t think the government is weak.”

“We are doing everything to ensure an impartial investigation. But some political parties are trying to create disturbance demanding a CBI inquiry. What will the CBI do? How many cases has the CBI been able to solve? The CBI investigated the Nandigram firing case, Tapasi Malik murder case and the theft of Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize medal. How many persons did they arrest? Was it able to find any of the culprits? Do not mislead people,” Banerjee said, adding, “By making repeated demands for a CBI inquiry, some people are trying to demoralise our police force.”

DGP Manoj Malaviya said on Wednesday, “Even before the investigation started, we had placed three police personnel under suspension in the interest of an impartial investigation. The SIT has taken two persons into custody on the basis of the evidence it has gathered so far. However, we are facing obstacles in our probe. Perhaps, there are some political parties which are behind creating these obstacles to hamper our efforts to ensure swift justice in this case. I urge the family members and other interested parties to refrain from causing such obstructions.”

The arrested duo will be produced in court Thursday, police said.

“We were stopped when we tried to recover the mobile of the deceased that is still with his family members. Also, when our team visited their house for the exhumation of the body for a second post-mortem by a competent team of doctors in the presence of a magistrate, the family members prevented us. The team had to return,” the DGP added.

Asked who had visited Anis’s house on the night of the incident and if the two arrested were directly involved in the crime, Malaviya said, “I can assure that anyone involved won’t be spared. It could be a police personnel or it could be someone else. Those arrested will be interrogated. The SIT officers are competent in a few days’ time, things will become clear.”

Preliminary investigation reveals the involvement of police in the case, sources said.

“Are those arrested really involved (in the case)? It should be investigated who murdered my son using the police. I demand a CBI investigation. I am not satisfied with the ongoing probe. I will continue to demand for an investigation by an independent agency,” Salem Khan, father of Anis, said.