Northeast students protest at Jantar Mantar seeking justice for Tripura student killed in Dehradun

New Delhi: Students from the Northeast on Wednesday staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here demanding justice for Tripura student Anjel Chakma, who died of a stab injury in Dehradun recently.

Hundreds of students from the Northeast studying in Delhi University participated in the protest organised under the banner of Northeast Students' Society of Delhi University (NESSDU), demanding a thorough investigation into Chakma’s killing. Chakma (24) from Unakoti district in Tripura was attacked by a group of six people when he objected to racial slurs hurled at him and his younger brother in Dehradun on December 9.

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He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on December 26. Dehradun police has arrested five of the six accused. One of them, Yagyaraj Awasthi, a resident of Kanchanpur district in Nepal, is absconding.

Speaking to PTI, NESSDU president Pointing Thokchom said, “We demand the case be transferred to the CBI and the family be compensated properly. There should be a law to protect students from the Northeast from racial abuse and attacks.” Bipul Chakma, vice-president of the All India Chakma Students' Union, alleged that the Uttarakhand administration delayed the investigation, prompting the students to gather at the Jantar Mantar demanding justice.

“I went to Dehradun on December 11 after Anjel Chakma’s father called me since nobody was helping. I have been a victim of racial abuse myself at DU. We want this vicious cycle of racial abuse and attacks against Northeast students to stop,” he said.