Demand for justice for “murdered” student leader Anis Khan reverberated on the streets of Calcutta on Tuesday as students and youth outfits aligned to the Left, including the SFI and DYFI, and the Indian Secular Front held two separate rallies bringing several parts of central Calcutta to a halt for hours in the afternoon.

The protesters also asked the state government to release DYFI state secretary Minakshi Mukherjee and 16 others unconditionally.

Minakshi, several youth and student leaders were arrested on Saturday when they led a march to the office of the superintendent of police (Howrah rural) in Panchla to demand justice for Anis who was allegedly murdered by the police in the small hours of February 19.

The march ended with a clash with the police that left many on both sides injured. A court in Howrah on Monday sent Minakshi and others to jail custody.

On Tuesday, supporters of the Left outfits marched from Howrah and Sealdah stations in two separate rallies to congregate at College Street in Calcutta where leaders, including SFI state secretary Srijan Bhattacharyya, addressed the gathering and pledged to continue their movement till perpetrators of the alleged murder of Anis were arrested and a fair probe was conducted into the killing.

“The meeting was successful. Over 5,000 people took part in the protest. Our protest and programmes will continue as long as justice is not served to Anis and his family. We also demand the immediate release of Minakshi and others,” said Mayukh Biswas, the SFI national general secretary, who addressed the rally.

Biswas said a massive drive to collect one crore signatures demanding justice for Anis and immediate release of 17 SFI-DYFI activists, will commence from Wednesday. Demonstrations will be held at 50,000 places across the state, he added.

ISF supporters, led by MLA Naushad Siddiqui, also marched in a separate rally from Sealdah station, also demanding justice for Anis on Tuesday. Siddiqui said they wanted a judicial probe into Anis’s death.

“Anis’s family has demanded a CBI probe. We are with them. However, we demand a judicial probe into the incident,” Siddiqui said at the end of the rally.

Siddiqui added his outfit stood in solidarity with everyone who had hit the streets demanding justice for Anis. “If need be we will block the entire state to demand justice for Anis,” he said.