Pune student’s senseless murder in UK shocks all

The news of a Pune student’s senseless murder in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom (UK) on December 26, has shocked and stunned his family in Pune which is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy on multiple fronts.

According to reports from the UK, Anuj Bidve (23), an ex-student of the Sinhagad College of Engineering, was strolling along the footpath at Salford in Greater Manchester at 1.34 am on December 26, celebrating Christmas with his friends when two white boys got into a conversation with him and one of them allegedly shot him in the head and fled.

His shocked friends held the Pune boy in their arms and rushed him to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Reports in the UK media said a 17-year-old teenager was arrested on suspicion of the murder.

A resident of Chandannagar, Bidve had gone to the UK three months ago to do his masters in micro-engineering from Lancester University.

Anuj’s family is now faced with the Herculean task of getting his body to India. “Four weeks is the period that the UK police told us after which they will release the body. It’s too long; his parents are in shock and cannot wait for so long. We are trying every possible means to fasten the procedure but it looks impossible. Especially as all UK authorities seem interested only in hushing up the matter,” said Aditya Salunkhe, Anuj’s cousin brother.

Shockingly, neither the Indian embassy nor the police or university officials informed the family of his death. It was an update on Facebook by a friend that alerted the family to the incident.

According to Salunkhe, Aditya had gone to Greater Manchester with 18 friends, nine of whom were in a hotel room and nine, including Anuj were out for a stroll. They were searching for food when two white men in their 20s stopped and asked for the time. Anuj was standing a little distance away from the group and spoke to the boys. Suddenly one of them took out a gun and shot him in the head, said Salunkhe.

He complained of not being able to access any information besides these sketchy details. “Students tell us they have been asked not to reveal details of the incident. We are trying to contact both the Indian and UK embassy officials, but no one is helping. We suspect Anuj is a victim of a racist attack. But all we care for is to get Anuj’s body and give him a decent funeral here,” said Salunkhe.

Since the incident, the family has put out requests on Anuj’s Facebook page asking anyone - local police, friends, embassy or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) - to help in getting Anuj’s body to India. They have also called up the police officer in-charge of investigations, flooding him with requests to release the body sooner.