Tribal body seeks trial in Anjel Chakma murder case outside Uttarakhand - The Hindu

The All India Chakma Students’ Union (AICSU) has urged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to shift the “racially motivated” Anjel Chakma murder trial out of the State.

A 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, Chakma was stabbed by a group of allegedly inebriated boys in Dehradun on December 9. He died at a hospital in the Uttarakhand capital on December 26.

AICSU president Drishyamuni Chakma said on Monday (December 29, 2025) that the union wrote to the Chief Minister demanding the transfer of the case, preferably to Delhi, as the family of the deceased “has lost faith in the Uttarakhand police”. He also suggested that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The lapses include a three-day delay in registering the First Information Report (FIR), the refusal by the Selakui police station personnel to register the complaint on multiple occasions, the failure of the police to invoke appropriate Sections of the law at the initial stage, and attempts by senior police officials to dilute the crime by portraying it as a fight while ignoring elements of racial abuse.

The AICSU also raised grave concerns regarding lapses by the hospital authorities, noting that the victim was admitted in a critical condition to a private hospital, which did not inform the police immediately, as required in a medico-legal case.

The union argued that the safety of Chakma’s family members and the key eyewitnesses warrants the transfer of the murder trial outside Uttarakhand to ensure a fair and impartial judicial process.

“Action should be taken against the police officials concerned, for not registering the FIR and for misleading or distorting facts and protecting the accused. The absconding accused must be arrested immediately,” the AICSU president said, demanding the invocation of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the case, and a compensation of ₹2 crore to the victim’s family.