The West Bengal Police accused protestors of stopping it from carrying out a probe into the Anis Khan murder case, despite an order from the Calcutta High Court in a social media post on Saturday afternoon.

“On the direction of Hon’ble High Court, today members of SIT being accompanied by magistrate went to exhume the dead body of Anish Khan for holding further PM (post mortem) which was prevented fiercely in utter violation of order of the apex court of WB,” a tweet from the official handle of the West Bengal Police read.

“SIT is investigating the Anish Khan case under the directions of the Hon’ble High Court, but violent demonstrations are being organised daily at Amta PS and SP Office with the ulterior motive of derailing and delaying the investigation,” read another tweet.

Early morning on Saturday, a police team arrived at Sarada Dakshinpara in Amta, where Anis was found dead on the night of February 18, after a visit by a team of policemen. The SIT probing the case has already found evidence of a response team van that had indeed been present in the locality around the time of the murder.

When the SIT reached this morning, the villagers stopped them from exhuming the body, which led to the police protesting on social media. It is mandatory for the family members of the victim to be present when the body is being exhumed. The victim’s ailing father Salaam or his elder brother Sabir were absent.

“I have not violated any court order. I was told that the police team will come on Monday. Why did they arrive in the wee hours of Saturday? Are they trying to steal his body to destroy evidence?” asked Salaam Khan, the father.

Later in the day, a protest by CPM leaders and students turned violent at Howrah’s Amta, as the police fired teargas shells to pushback brickbatting students. CPM leader Meenakshi Mukherjee and others were arrested.