The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) has urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to ensure a fast-track trial in the alleged racially motivated murder of Anjel Chakma, a Scheduled Tribe student from Tripura who died in Dehradun, and to enact a dedicated law to address racial violence against people from the North East.
In a representation submitted on Friday, the CDFI said Anjel Chakma succumbed to his injuries on December 26 at a private hospital in Dehradun after battling for his life for over two weeks.
The organisation described the incident as a case of racial violence and demanded that the trial be conducted in a designated fast-track court.
On 9 December 2025 at around 6 pm, Anjel Chakma and his younger brother, Michael Chakma went to Selakui Market to purchase groceries.
“Without any provocation, a group of six local persons began harassing them solely based on their physical appearance. The assailants hurled racial slurs such as “Nepali”, “Chinese”, “Chinki”, and “momos”, accompanied by abusive language. When the brothers protested against this racial harassment, the assailants launched a violent attack,” the CDFI said.
Michael Chakma was struck on the head with a kada, while Anjel Chakma was brutally stabbed in the neck and stomach with a knife, causing life-threatening injuries. The attackers fled the scene after threatening to kill them.
CDFI founder Suhas Chakma alleged that the Uttarakhand Police failed to act promptly, claiming that the FIR was registered three days after the incident.
He also alleged that relevant legal provisions, including those related to attempt to murder, mob violence on racial grounds under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, were not initially invoked.
According to the CDFI, this delay enabled the prime accused to escape, and the individual has not yet been arrested.
Drawing parallels with the 2014 killing of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania in Delhi, the CDFI said the incident underscored the continuing vulnerability of people from the North East to racial violence.
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It recalled that the Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted the M.P. Bezbaruah Committee after the Nido Tania case, which recommended the enactment of a separate law or amendments to criminal law to address racial discrimination and violence.
The organisation said recent provisions in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita dealing with promoting enmity and acts prejudicial to national integration were inadequate to effectively address racial violence against North Eastern communities, and reiterated its demand for a separate anti-racial violence law.
The CDFI also sought directions to the Uttarakhand government to invoke murder charges under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, ensure the immediate arrest of the prime accused, and set up a dedicated helpline for citizens from the North East in Dehradun on the lines of the Special Police Unit for North Eastern Region.
In addition, the organisation called for an inquiry into alleged lapses by the Selakui police, including the delay in registering the FIR, and demanded compensation of Rs 1 crore for the family of the deceased, along with compensation for injuries suffered by Michael Chakma.
