Uttarakhand govt to take stringent steps against culprits in Anjel Chakma murder: Tripura CM

Agartala, Dec 30 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said that his Uttarakhand counterpart Pushkar Singh Dhami assured him that his government will take stringent steps against those who are involved in the murder of Anjel Chakma.

Chakma, a 24-year-old student from the northeastern state, was attacked by six men on December 9, and he succumbed to his injuries on December 26.

Two Tripura ministers visited the victim's house at Machmara in Unakoti district, and handed over to his family cheques amounting to Rs 9.12 lakh, provided by the governments of Uttarakhand and Tripura.

"Money will not bring back the life of Angel Chakma. We strongly condemned the murder of the MBA student. I had words with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Puskar Singh Dhami yesterday, who assured me of taking stringent steps against the culprits," Saha told the reporters.

Of the total six accused, five have already been arrested, while steps have been taken to arrest the sixth one, he said.

The chief minister said a delegation of a Chakma students' organisation met him on Monday to talk over the incident.

"I assured them that the Uttarakhand government will take steps to punish those involved in the murder case," he said.

Ministers Tinku Roy and Santana Chakma handed over to the deceased student's family two cheques. While the Tripura government extended financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh while Uttarakhand government provided Rs 4.12 lakh.

Roy said, "Our chief minister is in touch with the Uttarakhand CM over the issue. He will ensure that the killers get maximum punishment." Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Tripura Assembly, Jitendra Chaudhury, condemned the way a promising tribal student was murdered in Dehradun.

"This was not the first case of an attack on people from the Northeast. There are instances of racial discrimination meted out to the students of the region. This is the fallout of RSS Hindu-Hindi-Hindustan agenda," he claimed. PTI PS NN