Manipuri Guitarist Lynched To Death For Objecting To Noise Outside Delhi Home; 7 Arrested

A 54-year-old Manipuri guitarist and music teacher died after he was allegedly assaulted by a group of eight people outside his rented home in southeast Delhi's Kilokari village late on Sunday, police and people familiar with the incident said.

Vikram Singh Chongtham was reportedly attacked after objecting to a commotion allegedly being created by workers from two nearby dhabas. Police have arrested seven men and apprehended a 15-year-old boy in connection with the killing.

Chongtham, a well-known guitarist from Manipur, had been working as a private music teacher in Delhi for 17 years. He lived with his wife, Joshna Chongtham, 50, and their 20-year-old son, Yaiphaba Chongtham, in a third-floor flat in Kilokari, under the Sunlight Colony police station.

ALSO READ | PGs And Hostels To Face Safety Audit After Satya Niketan Building Collapse Kills 7 According to B Ruchida Sharma, a Manipuri social activist who works with people from the Northeast in Delhi, Chongtham went downstairs at around 11.30 pm on Sunday to throw away garbage.

He allegedly found a group of workers from two nearby dhabas shouting and creating a commotion. An altercation reportedly followed after Chongtham objected to their behaviour. Sharma said Chongtham then ran back towards his home, but the group followed him into the building.

“They chased him to the third floor, overpowered him in the corridor and rained blows on him before fleeing,” Sharma said, reported Hindustan Times. Deputy Commissioner of police (Southeast) Vineet Kumar said the Sunlight Colony police station received a call about the assault at 1.38 am on Monday.

Chongtham's family took him to a private hospital in Okhla, where he died during treatment at around 7 am, according to Sharma. Police have registered a case under sections 103(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Section 103(2) relates to murder committed by a group of five or more people acting together on specified grounds, including race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language or personal belief. Section 3(5) concerns acts carried out by several people in furtherance of a common intention.

Investigators used CCTV footage, technical surveillance and local intelligence to identify the eight suspects, police said. Seven adults were subsequently arrested, while a 15-year-old boy was apprehended. The arrested men have been identified as Bharat Kumar, 19, Pramod, 26, Ramzan Khan, 22, Vijay, 36, Deepanshu, 21, Mohan Vishwakarma, 32, and Mannu, 26.

Police said four of the accused worked as delivery workers and two as packaging workers at the dhabas. Mannu was employed at a pizza kiosk. ALSO READ | 'Allegiance To Constitution': Allahabad HC Slams Noida DM Over Student's NSA Detention The killing triggered a gathering in Kilokari village on Monday evening, with nearly 100 people from the Northeast taking part in a candlelight march.

The protesters demanded swift action in the case. The incident has also drawn attention from former Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh, who urged the Delhi Police to conduct a thorough investigation. “Deeply saddened by the tragic passing of renowned Manipuri guitarist and Western music pioneer, Shri Chongtham Vikram Singh, and deeply concerned by the incident in which he was allegedly assaulted near his residence in southeast Delhi,” Singh wrote on X.

Vikram Singh Chongtham was a 54-year-old Manipuri guitarist and music teacher. He was well-known in Manipur and had been teaching music in Delhi for 17 years.