Dehradun: Uttarakhand police have clarified to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) that none of the six accused in the Anjel Chakma murder case belonged to Scheduled Tribe groups. Dehradun police had earlier claimed during the initial probe that one accused belonged to a local ST community in Uttarakhand and another hailed from Manipur. In the chargesheet that followed, all six, including the two minors, were named but the ST status of all had not been convincingly ascertained at that time.
The admission came during a review meeting before the NCST on Friday in Delhi, where petitioners — including those representing the Chakma student bodies — also raised concern over bail granted to two minor accused and the continued absence of the alleged prime accused Yagya Raj Awasthi. TOI exclusively learnt details of the hearing in which police shared crucial information regarding the case.
Anjel Chakma, 24, an MBA student in Dehradun, was attacked in the Selaqui area on Dec 9 last year allegedly after he protested racial slurs directed at him and his younger brother. He succumbed to serious injuries at a local hospital on Dec 26. Of the six accused named in the case, five were arrested, including two minors, while Awasthi, an alleged Nepalese national, remained absconding. The claim that one of the accused belonged to a ST community was first made by Dehradun police during a press conference on Dec 29 last year.
Petitioners Challenge Earlier Police Claims
Atul Chakma, advocate and president of Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union, who petitioned NCST to summon Uttarakhand police and administration, said the state team was represented by Dehradun SSP Pramendra Dobal, case investigation officer (IO) Anuj Kumar and SDM Dehradun Vinod Kumar. "They clarified before NCST that none of the accused belonged to the ST community. One belonged to the SC community. This contradicted the earlier claim made by Dehradun police... Such claims created communal misunderstanding and diverted attention from the actual facts of the case," Atul told TOI on Monday.
Atul said the petitioners objected to the earlier police position and urged officials to issue a formal clarification. "We told them that such claims had caused confusion and weakened the focus on the racial nature of the attack. Police must officially clarify what they have now admitted before the commission," he said.
Investigation Update and Status of Accused
During the hearing chaired by NCST member Nirupam Chakma, Uttarakhand police shared the investigation status and informed the commission that police filed a charge sheet against five of the six accused. Police said two minor accused among those apprehended secured bail from the juvenile justice board last month, while a non-bailable warrant and look out circular had been issued against Awasthi.
On Jan 4, during the first hearing of the petition before NCST, Uttarakhand police had mentioned in its report that the accused were identified as Avinash Negi, 25, Sumit Kumar, 25, both residents of Selaqui in Dehradun, Suraj Khawas, 22, a resident of Senapati district, Manipur along with the two minor accused aged 15 and 17 respectively. Of the five apprehended accused, police had then stated that Khwas was ST. Details of Awasthi were not shared because he was still on the run. However, in the charge-sheet filed in the case on Feb 8, police didn’t mention Khwas as a ST member. The same was reiterated by it during the second NCST hearing on Friday.
Case IO and circle officer (Sahaspur) Anuj Kumar told TOI: "Efforts are on to arrest Awasthi. During the initial investigation, it was found that one of the accused was ST. However, he could not produce supporting documents for the same. The two minor accused got out on bail last month while efforts are on to get a Red Corner notice against Awasthi and initiate the process to extradite him from Nepal, where he is suspected to be hiding."
The case triggered protests and demands for a deeper probe after Anjel’s death. Reports at the time said the family and student bodies alleged racial abuse while police initially said they found no evidence of racial slurs and pointed to the background of some accused. Earlier reports also said police had sent teams to trace Awasthi in Nepal and later raised the reward on him to Rs 1 lakh.
