Himanta seeks probe into Assam student Himashri Boro’s death in Andhra Pradesh

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has sought a thorough, impartial and time-bound investigation into the death of 20-year-old Himashri Boro, a student from Assam whose body was recovered from a forested area in Andhra Pradesh after she went missing during a train journey.

Sarma on October 9 wrote to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, urging them to intervene and ensure a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.

The chief minister also said he had deputed a senior Assam Police officer to Andhra Pradesh to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies.

In a post on social media, Sarma expressed grief over Boro’s death and conveyed his condolences to her family.

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic demise of Himashri Boro. My heartfelt condolences to her family in this hour of grief,” he said.

According to the letters written by Sarma, Boro, a student of B Borooah College in Guwahati and a resident of Kamrup district, had travelled to Visakhapatnam as part of a dance troupe and was returning to Guwahati.

She boarded the Dibrugarh Vivek Express (Train No. 22503) at Visakhapatnam on October 5. On October 6, her family received a distressing message from her expressing fear over the presence of several men around her, the chief minister said in the letters.

She subsequently went missing. Her bag was found in the train’s S2 coach, while her body was later recovered from a forested area near Malayapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district.

Describing the circumstances as raising serious suspicion of foul play, Sarma urged the Andhra Pradesh chief minister to order a thorough inquiry into the sequence of events, including Boro’s boarding of the train, her disappearance and the recovery of her body.

In his letter to the Union railway minister, Sarma sought a detailed investigation through the railway authorities into the circumstances of her death and the events that took place during her train journey.

The chief minister said the incident had caused profound grief and concern in Assam and stressed that those responsible, if any, must be identified and brought to justice at the earliest.

“The safety of the people of Assam, wherever they may be, remains our highest priority,” Sarma said in his social media post.

Further details of the investigation were not immediately available.