Father Of Murdered Student Leader Anis Khan Objects To State Govt's SIT Report Before Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court today directed the father of deceased student leader Anis Khan to file an affidavit as objection to a report submitted by the West Bengal government after his lawyer took exception to the findings of the probe.

Petitioner Salem Khan's lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya submitted that the report can at best be termed as an inquiry report and not that of an investigation, claiming that it did not contain relevant details.

Bhattacharya also objected to the findings of the West Bengal government-appointed special investigation team (SIT), submitting that it was ridiculous to suggest that the death of Anis Khan was non-homicidal as has been stated in the report.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha told Bhattacharya that a formal exception to the report be filed by the petitioner in the form of an affidavit within one week. The court adjourned hearing in the matter till May 12.

Khan had moved the High Court seeking an order for investigation into the death of his son by an impartial agency which is not connected with the West Bengal police. Justice Mantha had on March 14 directed an SIT to complete its probe by April 18 into the death of the student leader, whose father alleged that he was murdered by men wearing khaki and civic volunteer uniforms.

Bhattacharya had claimed before the court that Anis was brutally assaulted by four persons, of whom one was in police uniform and the other three in civic volunteer dress, and pushed off the third floor of his home at Amta in Howrah district on the night of February 19.

The state government, on April 19, submitted an 82-page probe progress report to the court, in accordance with its directions, indicating the steps taken for investigating the case.

With PTI inputs