NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju said all eight accused in the alleged killing of 55-year-old Manipuri musician and music teacher Chongtham Vikram Singh in Delhi’s Ashram have been arrested.Rijiju said police have assured the family that a strong chargesheet will be filed within two weeks.“It is a very sad incident, Vikram Singh from Manipur, who was a musician, he got into altercation with few delivery boys, workers of a ‘dhaba’, after the fight, he died. I have talked to IGP of South Delhi Range, DCP, Joint CP of Special Police Cell for Northeast. All the eight accused have been arrested. Police also met the family of Vikram Singh. Tomorrow, his body will be taken to Manipur. Police said that within two weeks, a strong chargesheet will be filed in the court, there should be strict punishment, ” Rijiju told news agency PTI.Calling the incident “very sad”, Rijiju said Singh had got into an altercation with some delivery boys and workers of a dhaba before he was allegedly beaten and later died during treatment.He said Singh’s body would be taken to Manipur on Wednesday and expressed hope that the accused would face strict punishment.Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also condemned the alleged mob lynching of Singh, calling it a “chilling reminder” of what he described as “utter lawlessness under the Bharatiya Janata Party” and demanded strict action against those responsible.In a post on X, Kharge wrote, “The merciless lynching of Chongtham Vikram Singh ji, a well-known musician from Manipur, by a mob is yet another chilling reminder of the utter lawlessness under the BJP. Students are unsafe. Women face atrocities every day. People from Northeast India face discrimination. Dalits, Adivasis and minorities remain highly vulnerable.”The merciless lynching of Chongtham Vikram Singh ji, a well-known musician from Manipur, by a mob is yet another chilling reminder of the utter lawlessness under the BJP.(With agency inputs)
