Shillong, July 15: Meghalaya police are yet to make any headway into the death of a college student from Manipur who was found murdered on the night of July 13 in Shillong even as four persons believed to be the friends of the victim were picked up for questioning in this regard.
The victim - Allan Mark Haominlen Chongloi (19) fondly known as Romeo was a student studying BA first year at St. Edmund's College here and belonged to the Kuki community.
“We are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the cause of death and investigation is on to trace perpetrators who perpetrated the crime,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime) Vivek Syiem said today.
Postmortem was conducted on Wednesday and the body was handed over to the family members on the same day and taken to Manipur for the last rite. A case has been registered with Madanrting Police station.
“We are yet to make any breakthrough and the case is being investigated from various angles to find out the motive and the perpetrators involved in this crime,” Syiem said.
The DSP said that the four persons picked up for questioning were released after execution of Personal Release bond but did not reveal anything.
However, question is being raised against the police for detaining them for over 12 hours which tantamount to their arrest.
Doubt also circled on the claim of police that the body was found by some passers-by who later informed Madanrting police station about an injured person lying nearby.
The 19-year-old boy went missing for several hours on July 13 after attending a dance practice for the upcoming freshers' meet of his college till his body was found late in the night near Madanrting Police station.
Chongloi resided at Jingkieng Nongthymmai and was allegedly attacked and stabbed to death by miscreants on his way home after returning from the dance practice session at a Kuki worship service church near Madanrting.
Chongloi was rushed to Shillong Civil Hospital but was declared brought dead. He and his siblings were staying along with their mother at Jingkieng.
Meanwhile the Kuki Students' Organisation (KSO), has strongly condemned the brutal murder of Chongloi who was also KSO member and shared their sorrow with the bereaved family.
The KSO also expressed its utter dismay at the inhuman and heinous manner in which Chongloi was murdered at Shillong, which is one of the important centres of learning in the North East.
The KSO also urged the Meghalaya government to take all necessary measures to ensure safety of students hailing from other states studying at Shillong and to prevent such incident from recurring in the city.
Demanding the Meghalaya government to take up the murder case on priority basis and bring the culprits to book, the KSO also urged the Manipur government to intervene into the matter to guarantee security to the students from Manipur in the city at his capacity.
