Opposition parties have mounted an attack on police over the unnatural death of student leader Anis Khan with Left-backed student groups taking to the streets and non-Trinamul parties demanding expeditious action against those responsible for the alleged murder.

On Sunday, multiple political delegations visited Khan’s family and met his bereaved father Salam Khan at Amta in Howrah. A delegation of the national leadership of the SFI and the DYFI met Salam before marching towards Amta police station. The activists broke the barricades placed in front of the police station and besieged it for about two hours.

Salam had alleged that his son had been thrown off the rooftop by four policemen of the Amta police station, who had come looking for him.

“We have given police five days’ time. They will have to book the culprits in five days. If that doesn’t happen, we will organise a bigger march to this police station,” said Mayukh Biswas, the SFI general secretary.

Biswas said the SFI wanted a judicial enquiry. “Anis’s father has demanded a CBI or a CID enquiry. But we have no faith in these institutions since they are parrots of the Union and state governments. We demand judicial enquiry into the matter,” he said.

A video clip shared by SFI leaders shows Biswas and others from the delegation speaking to Salam. The video shows SFI state president Pratikur Rahman asking Salam if he approved the demand for a CBI enquiry under judicial watch.

“I leave it upon you all. Whatever you decide, I’m with it,” Salam tells Rahman. This newspaper has not been able to ascertain the veracity of the video.

The SFI also demonstrated at over 500 spots across Bengal, demanding justice for Khan. In Calcutta, protests and road blockades were organised at Rajabazar, Jadavpur and a few other places.

A joint protest march has been called by the SFI and the AISF (the CPI students’ wing) in Delhi on Monday.

Another students’ forum, Students Against Fascism, has called for a non-political civic rally in Calcutta on Monday.

Opposition party leaders have also raised questions regarding the role of the local police.

A Congress delegation led by former MLA Asit Mitra also met Salam at his house. State Congress chief and Behrampore MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the police weren’t actively looking for the culprits, which agitated the local villagers.

“The police reached after the people came out on the streets. Why didn’t they reach that place earlier? If this had been a Trinamul leader, the police would have acted earlier,” Chowdhury alleged.

Another delegation comprising former leader of the Opposition Abdul Mannan, a Congress veteran, and the CPM’s Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya met Salam.

Bhattacharyya said it was surprising that such a “heinous crime” had been committed under the watch of the Amta police and they had no idea about it.

“We want an independent and unbiased investigation where there will be no participation of the Bengal government,” he said.

Members of civil society members — such as thespian Koushik Sen and activist Bolan Gangopadhyay — also went to meet the bereaved family. Sen said chief minister Mamata Banerjee must intervene immediately so that the perpetrators were brought to justice.

State BJP president MP Sukanta Majumdar said although Khan followed a different political ideology than his, his death was condemnable.

Trinamul Congress’s national working committee member Firhad Hakim said he had spoken to the police chief of Howrah (rural) Saumya Roy and asked him to arrest the culprits, bring them to court and demand the harshest punishment.