By Sunil Negi
A veteran Manipuri musician living in Delhi has been brutally murdered after repeated thrashing, clearly indicating that there is no fear of law in the capital in the eyes of the culprits.
The deceased has been identified as Chongtham Vikram Singh, 54, a nationally acclaimed guitarist and pioneer of Manipur’s western rock movement, who was beaten to death late Sunday night in Kilokari village under Sunlight Colony police station in southeast Delhi.
According to police and family, Singh, who was unwell and had come from his native Thangmeiband Lourung Purel Leikai in Imphal West to Delhi for treatment and was staying with his wife and 20-year-old son Yaiphaba on the third floor of a house in Kilokari near Ashram, objected to loud noise and nuisance created by a group of youths outside his residence at around 11:30 pm.
The youths, who police said are workers, delivery boys and packaging staff of two nearby dhabas located opposite his house, were allegedly drunk and shouting. When Singh came downstairs to dispose of garbage and asked them to stop making noise saying he could not sleep, an argument broke out. The group allegedly chased him back into his building, followed him up to the third floor, overpowered him in the corridor and assaulted him with fists and blows before fleeing. His son found him in a semi-conscious state with his T-shirt torn and heard him banging on the door shouting Thong Hango, meaning open the door.
He was rushed to Holy Family Hospital in Okhla where he succumbed to his injuries early Monday morning around 6:30 am due to hemorrhagic shock caused by blunt force trauma.
A PCR call was received at Sunlight Colony police station at around 1:38 am on September 7 and recorded vide GD No 10A. Police have registered a murder case under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and examined CCTV footage from the building which reportedly shows eight men coming down the staircase after the assault and an injured Singh being carried down on a man’s shoulder. In the latest development, Southeast Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar confirmed that all seven adult accused have been arrested and a minor has been apprehended.
The accused have been identified as Bharat Kumar, Pramod, Ramzan Khan, Deepanshu, Mohan Vishwakarma, Vijay and Mannu, along with a 15-year-old juvenile. All of them work at different dhabas and food stalls in Kilokari village. Post-mortem was conducted at AIIMS at 9 pm on Monday. The incident has shocked the Northeast community in Delhi, with North East Students Society of Delhi University, Manipuri activists and civil society holding a candlelight vigil in Kilokari and gathering at Sunlight Colony police station demanding swift and impartial investigation. Former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Congress leader Pawan Khera and others have condemned the killing, accusing the government of creating a culture of impunity.
Senior journalist Urmilesh said, where will these people take India, not in some remote tehsil or village but in the national capital a Manipuri musician was beaten to death just for asking to stop noise. The police finally arrested all the culprits.
