Fact- checker Mohammed Zubair schools Uttarakhand CM over “PR call” to Tripura student’s family
New Delhi/Dehradun: Journalist and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair on Monday criticised Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over what he described as a delayed response to the killing of Tripura student Anjel Chakma in Dehradun, calling the chief minister’s outreach a “PR call” after days of public outrage.
In a post on X, Zubair pointed out that Anjel Chakma was attacked on December 9 and died on December 26 after weeks of treatment. He noted that the incident was reported by local media and discussed on social media on the very day of the attack, while national media covered it from December 27 onwards. Zubair said widespread outrage persisted online for two to three days before the chief minister finally spoke to the victim’s family.
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“Finally Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami wakes up and decides to do a PR call,” Zubair wrote, questioning the timing of the response rather than the assurance itself.
Zubair’s remarks came shortly after the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s Office said Dhami had spoken to Anjel’s father, Tarun Prasad Chakma, and assured strict action against those responsible. Dhami expressed condolences and said the culprits would be given the harshest punishment. The chief minister also said he had spoken to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding the case.
A video of Dhami speaking to the victim’s family on his phone was also shared later by ANI and other media outlets. Zubair made the tweet while replying to the video of X.
Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, was allegedly assaulted by a group of youths in the Selakui area under Premnagar police station limits on December 9. Police said Anjel and his brother Michael were attacked with knives and blunt objects following an argument. Anjel suffered serious injuries and later died while undergoing treatment.
So far, five accused have been arrested, while one suspect, believed to have fled to Nepal, remains absconding. Uttarakhand Police have announced a reward for information leading to his arrest.
The killing triggered protests and candlelight marches in Tripura, particularly by members of the Tipra Indigenous Students Federation and other student bodies, who have demanded swift justice and highlighted concerns over repeated attacks on people from the Northeast in other states.
Political reactions have also followed, with Congress leaders linking the incident to what they describe as a climate of normalised hate. Against this backdrop, Zubair’s post has added to the debate by shifting focus to the timing and optics of the state government’s response, rather than its stated assurances alone.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
