Hundreds of students of Jadavpur University descended on streets against the alleged police highhandedness in connection with the death of Anis Khan, a former student of Aliah University who was found dead in mysterious circumstances last week.
The Students Federation of India (SFI), a wing of the CPM, held a march in the afternoon along Raja Subodh Mullick Road.
The Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students’ Union (Fetsu) of JU held a torch rally in the evening.
Earlier in the day, students sat on the campus with pens and paintbrushes to draw banners condemning the alleged role of the police and the state administration.
Anambhuja Mukherjee, a student of film studies, had a poster that read: “Who do you call when police is the murderer?”
“The state administration has been forced to take some steps because students have hit the road. We will continue our protest to get justice for Anis,” said Anambhuja.
Koushiki Bhattacharya, a third-year student of comparative literature, was at the forefront of the SFI march. She had to be taken to hospital on Tuesday after a students’ protest over Anis’s death led to a scuffle with JU employees loyal to the Trinamul Congress.
“The police murdered Anis Khan because he dared to speak against the ruling party. We have no other option but to hit the street,” she said.
The torch rally organised by Fetsu was joined by students from Presidency University.
“The arrest does not mean anything,” said Fetsu leader Aritra Majumder, referring to the arrest of two personnel attached to Amta police station by the special investigation team, set up by the state government to probe Anis’s death.
Anis was found dead outside his house in Howrah’s Amta.
“The police have not yet been able to explain at whose behest they hatched a conspiracy to murder a protesting voice,” Aritra said.
Koushani Mukhopadhyay, a student of performing arts at Presidency University, said they took part in the march to demonstrate the collective anger at Anis’s death.
Police case
The police have started a case of wrongful restraint and assault against Binay Singh, general secretary of the Trinamul-backed Sara Bangla Siksha Bandhu Samity at JU, who allegedly got into a scuffle with SFI supporters on Tuesday.