Manipur CM takes up Pravish case with Yogi, seeks fair probe

NOIDA: Manipur chief minister N Biren on Monday held a meeting with his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath to discuss the case of Pravish Chanam, the 22-year-old student from the northeast state who was mysteriously found dead in Noida on September 9 and was cremated allegedly in haste by Noida police without informing the family.

According to an official statement issued by the Manipur CM's secretariat, during the meeting at the UP Bhawan in Delhi, Biren and Adityanath studied the information gathered so far by Manipur ADGP (intelligence) Pramod Asthana, who has been camping in Noida to take a first-hand account of the case.

Then, Biren shared the report with the UP chief minister for further investigation into the case by the UP police.

Though Adityanath assured Biren of justice by "finding out the truth at the earliest, the Manipur CM has urged him to hand over the case to an independent investigating agency, if need be.

Chanam had gone missing from a musical concert in Greater Noida on September 8. Probe later revealed that he was admitted to the district hospital in Sector 30 by the event manager as he had fallen unconscious during the concert the same night.

But he left the hospital without informing anyone, and was later found dead near Noida's Nithari village around 5.30pm the next day. His body was cremated three days later by the police without establishing his identity or informing the family. Later, in the face of criticism from various quarters, Noida police had suspended five cops for dereliction of duty.

Pravish had come to Delhi on September 7 and put up at his friend Ashok's place in Safdarjung area. They planned to attend the concert of international artistes, The Chainsmokers, at Greater Noida's Expo Mart with two other friends, Sachin and Teresa Karam, all from Manipur.