Kolkata: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of West Bengal Police probing the mysterious death of student leader Anis Khan, on Monday, ruled out murder as alleged by his family.
In its final charge sheet submitted at a lower court in Howrah district, the SIT has, however, named five police personnel of the local Amata Police station in the district charging them with negligence towards duty.
The five police personnel named in the charge sheet include the officer-in-charge of Amta Police Station Debabrata Chakroborty.
It is learnt that the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that have been included in the final charge sheet include Section 304A (causing death by negligence), Section 341 (wrongful restraint), Section 342 (wrongful confinement), Section 452 (house-trespass) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).
However, the charge sheet which was filed after 144 days since the SIT started the investigation did not mention Section 302 which relates to punishment for murder.
Meanwhile, on June 29, the aggrieved family approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court against the earlier decision by a single-judge bench of the same court ruling out a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
On June 21, a single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ruled out a CBI inquiry into the matter and expressed trust in the probe by the special investigation team (SIT) of the West Bengal police in the matter.
Khan was found dead On February 19, under mysterious circumstances at his residence in Amta. His family alleged that he was killed by policemen in uniform. The state police started the investigation by forming an SIT under the leadership of the Additional Director General of CID, Gyanwant Singh.
The SIT members also arrested a home guard and a civic volunteer in this connection. However, both are out of bail now.
On April 19, the SIT submitted an 82-page progress report on the investigation to the Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, wherein the investigating team hinted that Anis Khan’s death was a case of suicide.
