Aspiring DJ stabbed to death in Bangalore- Victim’s childhood friend from Sikkim arrested

Ishwar Basnett

Gangtok/Sikkim, Sept. 13: The only son of a senior bureaucrat in the Sikkim government has been stabbed to death allegedly by his childhood friend in Bangalore.

The body of 18-year-old Ishwar Basnett was brought here today. It was accompanied by the boy’s father O. P. Basnett, an additional director in the state human resource development department, and his uncle Janga Basnett, additional director-general of police.

Ishwar was stabbed in the chest by a pair of scissors in his apartment at Sanjay Nagar in Bangalore on Friday following an argument with the friend. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital there on Saturday afternoon.

The accused, Prasanna Khawas, 18, is also from Sikkim. He has been arrested and a murder case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered against him at Sanjay Nagar police station, said Janga Basnett.

An official of the Sanjay Nagar police station confirmed the arrest. “Prasanna has been arrested in connection with the murder. He is presently in judicial custody and investigations are on. There was a quarrel between the two and Prasanna stabbed him,” the police officer told The Telegraph over phone.

The police arrested Prasanna while the injured teenager was being taken to the hospital.

“The other residents of the building where Ishwar used to stay informed the police about the incident. The accused has confessed to stabbing Ishwar. The Bangalore police do not know why the fight took place and the reason will come out in the course of investigation,” said Basnett.

Ishwar had reached Bangalore earlier this month to pursue a course to train as a DJ at a musical institute. He had rented a room at Sanjay Nagar and was staying alone. His school friends, including Prasanna, are also in Bangalore, pursuing degree in various colleges.

Ishwar’s cousin also stays in Bangalore. She said Ishwar had managed to call his father on his mobile phone around 5.30pm on Friday to say he had been stabbed by Prasanna after an argument. “Two other friends were in the adjoining balcony when the attack took place. His father called me up and I rushed to where Ishwar stayed. He had already been taken to the hospital by his friends. When I reached the hospital around 6.30pm, Ishwar had been admitted to the intensive care unit and he was not in a state to speak to me,” she said over phone from Bangalore.

This is the second unnatural death of a Sikkimese student outside the state this month. On September 6, 16-year-old Yalem Rai had allegedly hanged himself in his hostel at a boarding school in Kurseong. Rai, a Class X student, was the son of the senior private secretary of the human resource development minister of Sikkim. His parents had rejected the suicide theory and demanded an investigation into “the murder”.

Ishwar’s uncle Basnett had an appeal for parents. “As the uncle of the victim, I would appeal all the parents who want to send their children outside Sikkim for higher studies to know where and with whom their children are staying and find out more about their social circles.”

TT