Taking suo motu cognizance of the alleged murder of the student leader, the court had asked the SIT to file its report within two weeks. The deadline ended on Friday. The state government on Friday submitted the report of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the death of student leader Anis Khan before the Calcutta High Court.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the alleged murder of the student leader, the court had asked the SIT to file its report within two weeks. The deadline ended on Friday.
The report, submitted in the court of Justice Rajasekhara Manthar, said further investigation was needed in the case. Sources said the 20-page report only comprises details on the progress of investigation in the case. The next hearing in the case is scheduled on Monday.
Anis’s family members have alleged that he was thrown off the second floor of his house by the police.
Left student organisations as well as Opposition parties have been demanding that the case be handed over to the CBI. Questions have also been raised on the ongoing SIT probe, with Anis’s father Salem Khan asking who sent the home guard and the civic police volunteer, who have already been arrested in the case, to their residence on the night of the incident.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Anis’s brother Sabir Khan reiterated the demand for an independent probe saying the family did not have faith in the ongoing SIT investigation.
“We want a CBI investigation as we have no faith in Mamata Banerjee’s police. They had assured that a clear picture would emerge within fifteen days. The deadline is over and there is no clarity on how he died. They should transfer the case to the CBI or we will move the Supreme Court. We don’t have faith in the ongoing investigation,” Sabir Khan told The Indian Express over phone.
Anis’s mobile phone was sent to a forensic laboratory in Hyderabad following an earlier order by the high court and the report is still awaited.
The court had also directed the SIT to hand over the report to Anis’s family while not sharing it with the public.
“The state submitted the SIT report in the Anis Khan death case at the Calcutta High Court on Friday,” Samim Ahammed, Anis’s advocate, said.
The state, through its counsel, further submitted that it would take another two weeks for the forensic report to arrive.
The court, meanwhile, asked the SIT why the officer in charge (of Amta police station in Howrah) was sent on leave and whether his statement was recorded before a Magistrate or not.
Amta Police Station OC Debabrata Chakraborty was sent on leave on February 24, after the SIT started its probe in the case.
Anis fell off the second floor of his house at Dakshin Khan Para in Howrah’s Amta on the night of February 18. He was found lying in a pool of blood minutes after four persons, including a man clad in khaki, came looking for him.
Amid claims by the family that he was pushed off the second floor by the police, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee formed the SIT to investigate his death.
As the chorus for a CBI probe, state DGP Manoj Malvia had repeatedly assured that there will be more clarity in the case in fifteen days.
Meanwhile, the Congress, under the leadership of state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, continued its protest in support of a CBI probe into Anis’s death.
A protest was organised on Friday at the Y channel in Dharmatala.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
