Two arrested in Anish Khan death case, family claims they weren't involved
Kolkata/Howrah, February 23
Two personnel of Amta police station in West Bengal’s Howrah district were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the death of student activist Anish Khan that has sparked widespread protests across the state.
The two personnel were arrested as they could have influenced the investigation in the case, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“We don’t know the actual incident, but we will find out the truth very soon. No laxity will be tolerated. The government is tough,” she said.
Home guard Kashinath Bera and Civic Volunteer Pritam Bhattacharya of the Amta police station were arrested after interrogation, Director-General of Police Manoj Malviya told a press conference.
The two were booked under IPC section 302 (murder), he said.
However, Khan’s family claimed that the two personnel arrested were not among the four people who visited their house in police uniform on the night of February 18 and allegedly pushed off their son from the third floor. “I did not see the two at my house that night. I still feel that a court-monitored CBI probe can only bring out the truth,” his father Salem Khan said.
Brushing aside the family’s demand of a CBI probe into the case, Banerjee said, “It is unfair not to have faith in the state police.” “You can’t insult the state police in the name of CBI,” she said.
Banerjee also questioned the CBI’s investigation into the Nobel medallion theft of Rabindranath Tagore and the police firings during the land agitation in Nandigram in the late 2000s. “Tell me how many times CBI has been successful in the past?” The father insisted that since the state police were allegedly involved in the death of his son, there was no point in the same agency probing the incident.
When SIT members visited the house on Wednesday, the father even showed them an old video clip of then opposition leader Mamata Banerjee, demanding a CBI probe into the death case of Rizwanur Rahman, which rocked Kolkata in 2007.
He questioned when Banerjee could seek a CBI probe as an opposition leader, then why is she reluctant to hand over the investigation to the central agency this time.
Khan’s family also claimed that they had received an anonymous “threat call” on Tuesday night, warning them of dire consequences if they don’t back off from their demand of probe by CBI.
The DGP said Khan’s family was obstructing the SIT formed by the state government to investigate the case “at the behest of some political parties in the area”.
“The family did not hand over the victim’s mobile phone to the SIT. They are not allowing us to collect important materials, but still, we have managed to make a breakthrough. We will achieve more success after custodial interrogation of the two arrested,” Malviya said.
The family also turned down the SIT’s proposal for a second post-mortem on the body of Khan in the presence of a magistrate amid allegations that the first one was done without following proper procedures.
Meanwhile, the chief minister came down heavily on the Left students’ unions that have been protesting over the death.
“I have no issue with democratic protests. I had led so many protests in the past,” she said.
“But, if someone obstructs roads, if someone causes inconvenience to students returning from schools and colleges, office-goers and businesses, if someone’s movement forces people to miss flights, that is a criminal offence and not a democratic movement,” she said.
Banerjee said that West Bengal “will not tolerate this type of culture” and directed the police to take “appropriate action”.
She also cautioned a section of the press not to encourage “disruptive activities” to increase their viewership.
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said he supports the anger and pain in society over Khan’s death.
“This is a very unfortunate and disturbing incident. I don’t want to comment on it at this moment. The truth must come out. I am very active concerning this case. I support the pain, anger, and emotion in the of society over this incident,” he said.
Protests continued in various parts of the state for the third consecutive day as students took out rallies, demanding an impartial investigation.
Armed with placards, students blocked important junctions of Kolkata such as Park Circus, Jadavpur, and New Town’s Narkelbagan, seeking justice for Khan.
