There was an outpouring of grief and anger among the people of Dakshinkhanpara in Howrah’s Amta block and thousands stood witness on Monday as the body of 28-year-old Anish Khan was exhumed for a second post-mortem. For six hours, people of the village and the neighbourhood remained perched on every roof and every boundary wall with eyes fixed on the graveyard as the administration went through the official procedure.
Salem Khan, father of Anish, was not feeling well and remained indoors. He had buried Anish, just 100 metres from his house about a week ago. “We will abide by the court order and allow the body to be taken away for a second post-mortem. We are being accused of non-cooperation which is not true,” he said. He repeatedly stated that he wanted an investigation by the CBI and had no faith in the special investigation team (SIT) set up by the police and he was only cooperating because of the intervention of the Calcutta High Court.
“There is no doubt that Anish was killed. How can we trust an investigation by those who are accused of the crime?“ said 65-year-old Abdul Raqique Khan, who was among the thousands assembled at Dakshinkhanpara. Villagers said they were impressed that a boy from their village had reached such heights of popularity but were sad and angry at the developments since February 18.
