Northeast students protest death of Manipuri youth, demand probe

New Delhi, Sep 21 : Hundreds of youth from the northeast on Thursday staged a protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan here, demanding a probe by the state government into the mysterious death of a Manipuri youth whose body was allegedly cremated by Noida police without informing the family.

The protesters, mostly comprising students and working professionals from the region in Delhi, submitted a memorandum of demands to the Resident Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh Bhawan. Later the memorandum was also submitted to the Prime Minister's Office.

The family members of Pravish Chanam, 22, are demanding a thorough probe by the CBI into his death.

Chanam went missing on September 8 from the India Exposition Mart in greater Noida where he had gone to attend a concert with three friends. Though he remained untraced by friends and family, Noida police found his body and later cremated it allegedly without informing the family members.

Alleging a series of lapses, Chanam's family said even a public notice was not issued to identify the body before it was cremated by police in a hurry.

"We want a thorough investigation by the CBI," Ravikanta Chanam, the victim's brother, told IANS here.

He said they would be meeting Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju over the issue. The Manipur government has decided to send Additional Director General of Police Pramod Asthana to Delhi to look into the case.

The family members said a series of events indicates criminal intent behind Pravish's death.

Explaining the sequence of events, the deceased's brother said Pravish had come from Hyderabad on September 7 and stayed at a friend's house in south Delhi's Arjun Nagar.

He went to attend a concert in Greater Noida on September 8 with three friends -- Ashok, Teresa and Sachin.

Pravish suddenly went missing from the venue.

Ashok reportedly took Pravish's phone and wallet fearing he might loose it in the crowd. He claimed they had agreed to meet at Gate 3 of the India Expo Mart if they got separated in the crowd after the concert was over.

They could not find him at the venue before they left assuming he would have gone with his other friends.

Ravikanta, who stays in Delhi, learned about his missing brother next morning and lodged a complaint at the Knowledge Park Police Station around 3 p.m. on September 9.

He alleged that even after filing the complaint, police took until September 11 to circulate notice to the nearby police stations and other public places.

On September 12, SHO Knowledge Park was directed to interrogate Pravish's friends and get CCTV footage from the concert.

A day later, the SHO informed Ravikanta that his brother had been admitted to Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital in Sector 30 Noida as was seen in a CCTV footage.

The family members discovered that Pravish was admitted as an unknown person. However, how he reached the hospital remains a mystery.

They were told that Pravish was brought to the hospital on September 8 around 10:30 p.m. and left the next day early morning without informing anyone.

Ravikanta said on September 14, another missing complaint was filed at Noida Sector 20 Police Station. 

A policeman told the family that they had found a body near the hospital on September 9 that was sent for an autopsy.

The police cremated the body after waiting for 72 hours, said Ravikanta, quoting the policeman.

The policeman showed him a picture of the body and Ravikanta identified it as his brother.

He said the police did not make any attempt to issue a notice and inform the family to claim the the body.