Taking serious cognizance of the tragic demise of 20-year-old college student Himashri Boro, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has officially reached out to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. In separate communications, Sarma sought an exhaustive, impartial, and time-bound investigation into the mysterious sequence of events leading to the recovery of her body in Andhra Pradesh after she vanished during an interstate train journey. The incident has triggered widespread grief and deep anguish across Assam.
Disappearance During Train Journey from Visakhapatnam
Himashri Boro, a resident of Kamrup district in Assam and a student at B. Borooah College, had travelled to Visakhapatnam to perform as part of a cultural dance troupe. She was en route back to Guwahati when the tragedy occurred. On October 5, she boarded the Dibrugarh Vivek Express (Train No. 22503) from Visakhapatnam to begin her journey home.
Her travel took an alarming turn on October 6, when her family received an urgent, distressing text message from her. In that message, she conveyed palpable fear regarding the unsettling behavior of several men surrounding her inside the compartment. Soon afterwards, contact was lost and she went missing entirely. When the train was inspected, her luggage was discovered left behind in the S2 coach, while she was nowhere to be found. A day later, her body was recovered from a forested stretch near Malayapuram in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, confirming worst fears and pointing toward potential foul play.
Demand for Comprehensive Inquiry into Transit Security
Expressing profound distress over the unfolding tragedy, Sarma pointed out that the circumstances surrounding the young student's death strongly hint at unlawful acts. The discovery of her belongings in a train coach alongside the recovery of her remains in a secluded forest location has escalated public demand for swift answers. He insisted that the scope of inquiry must cover every development aboard the train as well as the immediate circumstances of her demise.
Emphasizing the urgency of unearthing the facts, Sarma noted in his correspondence, "I therefore request your kind intervention to order a thorough, impartial and time-bound inquiry through the Railway authorities, not only into the circumstances of her death but also into the events that transpired during her train journey, so that the truth may be established." He stressed that authorities must expedite identifying the individuals responsible and bring them to justice without delay.
Senior Assam Police Officer Dispatched for Coordination
Publicly addressing the tragedy, Sarma wrote on X to extend heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, reaffirming that citizen safety outside state borders remains a paramount concern. He confirmed dispatching formal requests to both Vaishnaw and Naidu seeking immediate, high-level administrative attention to the case.
To assist in cross-border investigation, the Assam administration has deputed a senior officer from the Assam Police directly to Andhra Pradesh. The officer has been tasked with working alongside local police and railway security agencies in Srikakulam and surrounding jurisdictions to facilitate seamless information sharing and accelerate forensic and investigative proceedings. Authorities are working to reconstruct the complete timeline of the Dibrugarh Vivek Express journey to determine precisely how and where the student exited the train.
