Angel Chakma had a plan.
He was 24, from Nandanagar village in Tripura's Unakoti district. He had moved to Dehradun to finish his MBA — the kind of degree that opens doors. He was a final-year student, close to completing it. His father, Tarun Prasad Chakma, was posted far away in Manipur, serving with the Border Security Force. Angel was proud of that.
On the evening of December 9, 2025, Angel and his younger brother Michael went to Selakui market near the Nanda Ki Chowki area. They never came home the same way they left.
What Happened at the Market
According to Michael and the family, a group of intoxicated men started targeting Michael with racial slurs — "Chinki," "Momo," "Chinese." These are words used to demean people from Northeast India, and they carry a long history of contempt behind them.
Michael pushed back. He told them: we are Indians.
Angel stepped in to defend his brother. The group surrounded him. One stabbed Angel in the spine. Another hit him with a metal kada — a thick bracelet used as a blunt weapon. Michael was also injured, though he survived.
Angel was rushed to Graphic Era Hospital in critical condition. The medical report told the full story of what had been done to him: a deep cut on his back, a wound on the back of his head, multiple bruises, complete loss of power on the right side of his body, spinal cord damage, and fissures in the brain.
Angel Chakma died on December 26, 2025 — seventeen days after the attack, paralysed, still fighting.
He was 24 years old.
The FIR Dispute
This is where the case gets complicated.
The family says racial abuse started the attack. Angel's uncle Momen Chakma told reporters that the men called the brothers "Chinki," "Ponki," and "Chinese" before the violence — and that when Michael said "we are Indians," the beating began. Angel's father Tarun, speaking from his BSF posting, said the racial motive was communicated to police from the beginning and should not be diluted.
Dehradun's Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh told a different story. He said the incident started at a birthday party for one of the accused, Suraj Khawas — a man from Manipur living in Dehradun. Some remarks were made, the victim's group took offence, an argument started, and things spiralled. The FIR contained no reference to racial slurs. Singh said such allegations only surfaced around 15 days after the incident, and were being examined.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the National Human Rights Commission both took cognisance of the case. The NHRC issued notices to the Uttarakhand government and directed the Chief Secretary and DGP to ensure the safety of Northeast students across the state.
The NHRC said it plainly: any negligence in safeguarding students would amount to a violation of human rights.
The Accused
Six people were identified. Five were arrested:
- Avnish Negi — Uttarakhand
- Shaurya Rajput — Uttarakhand
- Suraj Khawas — Manipur
- Sumit — Uttarakhand
- Ayush Baroni — Uttarakhand
- Two of the five were juveniles, sent to a juvenile reform home.
The sixth accused — identified in later reports as Yagya Raj Awasthi, believed to be of Nepali origin — fled and has not been found. A reward was announced for information leading to his arrest. The State Task Force was brought in to trace him, with focus on areas near the Nepal border.
By February 2026, Uttarakhand Police had filed a 649-page chargesheet against four of the arrested accused. The chargesheet did not name the racial motive. Defence lawyers could use this gap to weaken the prosecution. Legal experts noted that the case's strength depends on whether the court accepts the argument of common intent — that the group acted together with shared purpose, even if the racial angle is not formally established.
The main accused remains at large.
Why the Racial Question Matters
The police version and the family version cannot both be fully right. Either racial slurs were used — making this a hate crime that escalated into murder — or they were not, making it a fight that went too far. These are not the same thing legally or morally, and the difference matters for what charges are filed and what sentence is possible.
What is not in dispute: a 24-year-old Northeast Indian student was stabbed in the spine and killed after an altercation with a group of men from other states. His brother was also attacked. The family filed a complaint. An FIR was not registered for approximately 24 hours. The racial angle was not included. And those facts alone fit a pattern that Northeast Indians living in north Indian cities have described for years.
People from Northeast India have reported racial harassment — slurs, violence, discrimination in housing and employment — in cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, and Dehradun for decades. Most incidents go unreported. Most that are reported do not make national headlines. Most that make national headlines do not result in the racial motive being formally acknowledged.
The National Crime Records Bureau does not have a separate category for hate crimes against Northeast Indians. India has no hate crime law as such. Which means even when these incidents happen, the legal system has limited tools to name what they are.
What His Father Said
Tarun Prasad Chakma was not in Dehradun when his son was attacked. He was hundreds of kilometres away, serving his country.
He heard the news from hospital. He flew to Dehradun and found his son paralysed, unable to speak clearly, fading. In video from the ICU, Michael is heard recounting what happened — the slurs, the moment Angel stepped in, the knives.
Angel told his father at the hospital: Papa, please save me.
Tarun Chakma buried his son and then did what he had done his whole career: he kept going. He spoke to reporters. He insisted the racial motive be investigated properly. He said his son's killers must get maximum punishment.
The Uttarakhand government paid the family ₹4.12 lakh in compensation. The Tripura government paid ₹5 lakh. The chief ministers of both states called it a tragedy.
The main accused is still missing.
What This Case Is About
Angel Chakma died because he stood up for his brother. That is the most basic version of the story, and it is true.
But the case raises questions that go beyond one attack in one market. It asks whether the legal system can recognise racial violence when it sees it. It asks why the FIR — the document that shapes the entire investigation — did not include what the family says they reported from the beginning. It asks what protection Northeast Indian students have when they leave home to study in cities that don't always see them as belonging.
A 649-page chargesheet has been filed. The trial will proceed. Whether the court ultimately accepts the racial motive is still unknown.
What is known: Angel Chakma was a final-year MBA student with a plan for his life. He is gone. The man most responsible for killing him has not been found. And his father — the soldier who spent his career protecting the country — is waiting for justice.
Angel Chakma. Born in Nandanagar, Unakoti district, Tripura. Died December 26, 2025, Dehradun. He was 24.
