Tripura student’s killing in Dehradun a result of ‘heat-of-moment assault’: Police say not racially motivated

Citing a preliminary probe that pointed to a heat-of-the-moment assault, Dehradun’s Senior Superintendent of Police on Tuesday said the killing of Anjel Chakma, a student from Tripura, was not a case of racial violence.

At a press conference, SSP Ajai Singh said the interrogation of the accused and statements collected indicate that the murder was due to a physical altercation that quickly escalated.

“It was due to the heat of the moment. We interrogated the accused, including the minor, who is from the Buksa tribe, and another accused, who is from Manipur, and they said it was an act committed on an impulse without a motive to kill,” said the SSP.

The victim was assaulted by a group of six people in Dehradun’s Selaqui on December 9. One of the accused took a knife from a pushcart and stabbed Anjel during the altercation. The 24-year-old died during treatment on December 26.

While the complaint alleges that the accused hurled racial slurs at Anjel and his brother Michael — the complainant — police have maintained that there was no racial violence.

A special investigation team (SIT) has been formed by police to probe the matter further. The SSP said the bounty for the main accused, Yagya Awasthi, who is on the run, has been increased to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 25,000. An officer said that he is on the India-Nepal border in Uttarakhand and will be caught soon.

This is a reflection of a society where a culture of racism is normalised

Apart from Awasthi, the other five have been apprehended. While the two juveniles were sent to correctional homes, the three adults were sent to judicial custody.

On the delay in registering the FIR, SSP Singh said it was because there had been a delay in reporting the matter.

“Usually, we are informed of incidents through witnesses or a call on the helpline, but we came to know after the complainant visited the police station. When the complainant said that racial slurs were hurled at them, it was important to probe the allegations, especially when they are against persons unknown to them. So, we collected statements of the witnesses and shopkeepers along with the CCTV footage. We also consulted doctors for a medical summary after which the FIR was registered on December 14,” said Singh.

He also said that a thorough investigation will be conducted by the SIT. “We will check why they stabbed him with a knife, because these incidents where unknown people attack without motive occur very rarely,” he said.

Singh also pointed out that Uttarakhand is similar to the Northeastern states, be it “topographically or the situation or the sentiments”. Dehradun has been popular as an educational hub for a long time, and 70,000-80,000 students are studying in the state capital, the SSP said. “More than 2,000 students are from the Northeast, and 250 are from Tripura. There has never been a racial violence episode, at least to my knowledge,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Dehradun SSP and the District Magistrate, seeking a factual report in seven days.