New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has finally registered a murder case in the mysterious disappearance and death of Pravish Chanam, a Manipuri student, in Noida. Chanam disappeared on September 8, two years ago, after attending a concert by The Chainsmokers at the India Expo Centre and Mart and was found dead a few days later in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Sector 31. Chanam's disappearance and death had led to several protests and candlelight vigils in Delhi after the incident came to light in September 2017.
The case initially came under the purview of UP Police, which investigated Chanam's death amidst rising protests from all quarters for the CBI to take over case. Eventually, the UP government gave consent to the central probe agency to investigate the case in the state, following which the CBI has registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC including Section 302. As is the procedure, the agency has taken over the initial complaint of the victim's brother, as registered by the UP Police, and will take up the investigation from hereon.
While the CBI has not named anyone as accused in the case, the complaint allegedly points to "criminal intent leading to death" in Chanam's case. Chanam's brother referred to the post mortem report in his complaint, which allegedly concluded that the 22-year-old student had died of a shock haemorrhage caused by a head injury. The complainant has further alleged that the way officials of Knowledge Park police station handled the case, despite the existence of a missing person report "raises serious suspicion about any foul play".
Chanam had gone to the India Expo Centre and Mart to attend a concert by The Chainsmokers with two other friends on September 8, 2017. According to his brother, Chanam went missing on the day of the concert around 9 pm, leaving his phone and wallet with his friend. The following day, his family registered a missing person complaint with the Knowledge Park police station.
On September 13, the SHO Knowledge Park notified Chanam's family that a doctor, who was also at the concert, had taken Chanam to BR Ambedkar Hospital on the night he went missing. The doctor then allegedly told the victim's brother that Chanam was admitted at around 10:30 pm on the night of the concert and left the hospital, early in the morning, the following day.
Not knowing what to do, the family arrived at the Nithari police chowki to file another missing person complaint on September 14, when the in charge there informed them that they had found a dead body at the Murga Market in
Sector 31. The complainant then allegedly saw the photographs and identified the deceased person as his brother. Further, the complainant alleged that Chanam's post mortem was conducted on September 11 and his body was disposed of (cremated) on September 13, without informing the family. Knowledge Park police station had registered a missing person complaint in this regard on September 9, according to the complainant.