The special investigation team on Friday submitted its report on the death of student leader Anis Khan to Calcutta High Court through the Howrah district judge.

A copy of the report has been handed over to senior counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, who is handling the case on behalf of Anis’s family. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha adjourned hearing of the case till March 14,

when Bhattacharyya would file an affidavit containing his observations on the SIT report.

The SIT was constituted by the government after Anis’s death had created furore. Anis Khan, a 27-year-old former Aliah University student, was found dead outside his home in Howrah’s Amta neighbourhood on the intervening night of February 18 and February 19. Family members of Anis have consistently demanded a CBI probe and claimed that he had been thrown off the roof of their home by cops, who had come to search for the student leader.

As the issue continued to rock Bengal with students and youth wings of the CPM and the Congress organising frequent protests demanding justice for Anis, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on February 21 announced the formation of the SIT and granted it 15 days to file its report on the student activist’s mysterious death.

The high court had taken suo motu cognisance of the case and on February 24 Justice Mantha had ordered a second post-mortem of Anis’ body under the supervision of the district judge of Howrah. The court had also asked SIT to submit its progress report through the district judge within two weeks.

After the hearing ended on Friday, Bhattacharyya told reporters: "The court did the right thing by not making the contents of the report public. Identification of the accused might hamper the ongoing investigation."

Reacting to the submission of the report, family members of Anis said they did not have faith in the SIT and wanted the CBI to probe the case.