Angel Chakma's killing ‘not a racial attack', Uttarakhand Police tells why

Uttarakhand Police said on Monday they found no evidence linking the killing of 24-year-old Tripura student Angel Chakma in Dehradun to racial motives.

Chakma, an MBA student, died last week after a group of miscreants attacked him with knives and other blunt objects in Dehradun on 9 December.

Responding to claims that racial slurs were hurled at Chakma, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dehradun Ajay Singh told news agency ANI, “In preliminary investigation, no evidence of racial remarks has emerged in the inquiry in this case.” He said the investigation is still underway.

The officer also refuted the allegation that the police did not file an FIR in the case. “I reject the allegations because the complaint about the incident was filed 24 hours later.”

He informed that one accused of Nepali origin “remains absconding, the other five accused [including one from Manipur and one from Bhoksa community] have been arrested.”

Ajay Singh added, “If we get any complaint about negligence in medical treatment [of Tripura student Angel Chakma] or any other fact, then it will be probed.”

Meanwhile, a police official told NDTV that derogatory remarks made "in jest" created the false impression that the student was being targeted.

"It doesn't fall into the category of a racist comment because a young man involved in the incident is also a resident of the same state," Ajay Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dehradun, was quoted by NDTV.

"Some derogatory remarks were being exchanged among themselves by a group of people sitting together, and somehow the impression was created that the comments were being directed at them. It was in this confusion that the clash occurred, and this entire incident resulted from that clash," the official reportedly said in Hindi.

What happened on 9 December?

According to HT, Bhatt said a group of youths attacked Chakma near a liquor shop, where one of the accused, Suraj, from Manipur, was celebrating his son’s birthday.

Chakma and his brother, Michael, also purchased liquor from the shop. “An argument broke out between the two sides, which later escalated, resulting in the death of Chakma,” Bhatt said.

Michael told police they were out to buy groceries on 9 December when a group of inebriated people started a fight, used racist slurs, and stabbed Chakma.

Police have arrested five people in connection with the incident. Two of the accused are minors and have been sent to a juvenile reform home. Bhatt said police have not yet established who stabbed Chakma.

Angel Chakma died on 26 December. He was 24.

“Those arrested are claiming that the absconding accused stabbed the victim. It will only be clear after his arrest who actually carried out the stabbing,” Bhatt added.

He said none of the accused have any criminal record and that further investigation is underway.

Kiren Rijiju reacts: ‘Racism is a very big disease’

Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday expressed "dismay and anger" over the killing of a Tripura student in an alleged racial attack in Uttarakhand and called upon the people to fight against this "mindset" together, saying any such incident is "very shameful" and harms the country.

"Racism is a very big disease. It does not have any place in our country," he was quoted by PTI as saying.

Rijiju said that the Uttarakhand government is taking "tough actions" against the culprits and hit out at the opposition parties, saying they should be "ashamed of playing politics" over such a sad incident.

"We are all very sad and angry over the death of a student from the Northeast in Uttarakhand in such an incident. This should not be seen as one isolated incident. Not just in the Northeast, the entire country should be sad over the incident," the minister said.

"Be it the Northeast or in any other part of the country, why should anyone from any other region be subjected to such discrimination on the lines of race, religion, caste and looks, mocked at and attacked," he said.

"Such kind of incidents are very shameful for the country. It causes harm to society and the country as well just because of some people's mindset," he told reporters here.

(With inputs from agencies)