Dehradun: An altercation outside a liquor shop in Dehradun that turned fatal has heightened fears of hate crimes against people from the Northeast living in Uttarakhand.
Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old from Tripura, was assaulted on 9 December by six people after objecting to being called ‘Chinese’, ‘Chinki’, and ‘momo’, his brother told the media. Anjel succumbed to his injuries Monday after spending 17 days in the hospital.
His 26 December death has escalated fears in the Northeast among families whose children live outside for education or work.
Anjel and his younger brother Michael had been visiting a local market when four men and two juveniles allegedly began harassing them. The brothers protested.
“We are not Chinese; we are Indians,” Anjel, an MBA final-year student at Dehradun’s Jigyasa University, reportedly said during the altercation. His death has since sparked protests by Northeast Indian students across several parts of the country.
Commenting on the incident, Rishikesh Baruah, president of the Northeast Association of Dehradun, told ThePrint, “More than 2,000 students from the Northeast are studying in Dehradun. But we are facing racist comments…. We are from the same land, as they are. Then why is there this type of discrimination against us?”
Baruah said that since the 9 December attack, Northeast students in Dehradun have been living in fear. “Students mein dar ka mahaul hai (there is an atmosphere of fear among students),” he said.
Michael filed a police complaint at the Selaqui police station on 10 December.
“After receiving the complaint, we began an investigation, and an FIR was registered on 12 December,” station house officer P.D. Bhat told ThePrint.
Police arrested five suspects shortly after the FIR, Bhat said, naming Yagya Raj Awasthi as the main accused. Two police teams are searching for Awasthi, who remains absconding, he added.
According to police sources, Awasthi had moved to Dehradun from Nepal’s Kanchanpur district. ThePrint, which reviewed the medical reports of the accused, found that all six were intoxicated at the time of the incident.
According to SP City Pramod Kumar, the Chakma brothers and a group of local youth had an argument that escalated into a fight. “They were allegedly attacked with knives and other blunt objects,” he said.
On Sunday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami condemned the incident, calling such attacks unacceptable. “No one will be spared,” he said.
Anjel’s last rites were held in Agartala on 27 December.
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Anjel, a bright student
In 2024, Anjel came to Dehradun to pursue an MBA at Jigyasa University. A football enthusiast, he was in his third semester and had recently cleared a placement interview.
Anjel, who hailed from Tripura’s Unakoti district, had secured a job with a French multinational sports goods company.
“He was a sincere student and one of the best footballers. He was among the few students who secured a job on campus,” one of his classmates told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, adding that Anjel was not known to be confrontational.
Anjel’s father serves in the Border Security Force and is currently posted in Manipur. His family had taken an education loan to support his studies in Uttarakhand. He could not even join his job.
For the past three days, protests have erupted across Tripura, with demonstrators demanding the strictest punishment for the accused. ThePrint contacted Michael, who declined to comment.
Tripura CM Manik Saha said that he has spoken to Pushkar Dhami. “The CM informed me that five accused have been arrested and further investigation is underway. He has assured that justice will be delivered,” he said.
Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma called Chakma’s death heartbreaking and unacceptable. “Racial violence must not be tolerated,” he said.
Political leaders across party lines condemned the incident.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor described the killing as a national disgrace. “The brutal killing in Uttarakhand is not just a tragedy—it is a national disgrace,” he wrote on social media.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the attack a horrific hate crime. “Hate doesn’t appear overnight. For years now, it is being fed daily—especially to our youth—through toxic content and irresponsible narratives,” Rahul wrote on X.
The six accused
Among the six accused, none has a prior criminal record, police said, describing the incident as racially motivated.
ThePrint contacted the families of the accused and found that two of them are juveniles and school-going.
Abhinash Negi, another accused, runs a tea stall in Dehradun.
“He started the shop around two months ago. He is not a criminal-type boy. I don’t know what happened,” his mother said at their home in Shankarpur.
Negi’s father, a former Indian Army personnel, died in 1999. Negi lives with his mother and brother.
The main suspect, Awasthi, resides in Haridwar with his father.
Another accused, Suraj, is from Manipur and works at a bakery in Selaqui.
Sumit, also a suspect, works in a factory in Selaqui and lives in Tilwadi. His father is a daily wage labourer in Landour.
ThePrint found his mother, Pawni, in tears, maintaining her son’s innocence. “His bike was parked at the spot, and he appeared in CCTV footage, so the police arrested him,” she said.
Sumit’s wife and six-month-old daughter live with the family. Pawni said the incident was tragic. “Like my son, Anjel Chakma was also a son to his mother. This should never have happened,” she said.
Sumit’s wife, Sanjana, described her husband as soft-spoken, saying the arrest had devastated the family. “We married a year ago. The whole family is disturbed,” she said, holding their infant daughter.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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Those two people were having fight outside a bar, while drinking. Abused him while drink.
The prime suspect is Nepali. And you blame whole of Uttarakhand for this.