Tripura student's medical reports suggest he suffered fatal spinal, head injuries: Uttarakhand Police

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Police on Monday said that Anjel Chakma, a Tripura student who died in Dehradun days after allegedly being attacked with knives and brass knuckles, had suffered fatal spinal and head injuries in the assault.

Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh said while post-mortem report will be received on Tuesday, the cause of his death, according to preliminary medical reports, is clearly fatal injuries to his spine and head.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government, on the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, on Monday also provided financial assistance to the Chakma family and sent a cheque of Rs 4.12 lakh as the first installment, officials said.

This financial assistance has been sanctioned under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, they said.

As outrage mounted over the killing, Dhami, earlier in the day, spoke to his father Tarun Prasad Chakma on phone and assured him of strict punishment for the accused, officials said.

In a statement issued later in the day, Dhami said, "This is not just the death of a student, but the untimely end of a family's dreams and hopes." The CM said that he has assured the student's father that all the murderers of his son would be arrested soon and brought to justice.

"I want to make it clear that law and order and the safety of citizens are the top priority of the Uttarakhand government. The culprits will not be spared under any circumstances and will be given the harshest punishment according to the law," he added.

Anjel Chakma, a final-year MBA student at a private university here, was seriously injured when he was allegedly attacked by some youngsters with a knife and a bracelet on December 9. He died on December 26, after being hospitalised for 17 days.

His father, a BSF jawan currently posted in Tangjeng in Manipur, had alleged that his son was "brutally attacked" when he tried to defend his brother, who faced racial slurs and was called "Chinese" by the attackers.

The assailants called his sons "Chinese momo" and other racial slurs, the father of the victim told PTI over the phone. Anjel told them that he "was also Indian, not Chinese" but they attacked him with knives and blunt objects, the devastated father said.

Children from India and abroad come to the state to study, and such an environment has never existed here before, CM Dhami said, adding that Uttarakhand is a peaceful, inclusive and harmonious state, and it is our collective responsibility that students coming from every corner of the country feel safe here.

He assured that concrete and necessary steps are being taken to ensure the safety of students from all other states, including the Northeast, who are studying in the state.

Dhami told Tarun Prasad Chakma that five accused have been arrested in connection with the incident, while another accused is suspected to have fled to Nepal, and efforts are being made to arrest him by declaring a reward.

The chief minister also said that he has spoken to Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha as well as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding the incident.

Dhami stressed that the state government completely stands with the victim's family.

Assuring all possible assistance from the Uttarakhand government, Dhami said he will talk to Dr Saha to help the family.

Of the six accused allegedly involved in the murder, five have already been arrested, while Yagyaraj Awasthi, a resident of Kanchanpur district of Nepal, is absconding and a reward of Rs 25,000 has been announced for his capture.

Two of the five accused are minors, while the three arrested accused have been identified as Suraj Khwas (22), Avinash Negi (25), and Sumit (25), all residents of Manipur currently living in Dehradun.