NEW DELHI: An 18-year-old college student from India’s Arunachal Pradesh bordering China died on Thursday after being beaten up in an alleged racial attack by shopkeepers in the Lajpat Nagar shopping district, police said on Friday.

Nido Taniam, the son of Arunachal Pradesh Congress legislator Nido Pavitra, was attacked around at 2pm on Wednesday after an altercation broke out between him and a shopkeeper over comments on the colour of his hair, reports said.

The police are believed to have detained three persons in the case so far. Following widespread protests, the Delhi government ordered a magisterial inquiry into the merciless assault on the youth.

The incident has revived fears over the security of students from the north-east tribal states who are frequently assaulted and abused in the capital.

The mysterious death of 21-year-old Manipur resident Reingamphi Awungshi at Chirag Dilli in May 2013 featured prominently on the social media.

“The death of a north-east student in New Delhi after being beaten up is barbaric and condemnable,” Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Twitter.

According to reports, Taniam went to Lajpat Nagar to visit a friend on Wednesday. This was confirmed by Arunachal Pradesh resident commissioner Avinash Mishra while talking to a TV channel.

Unable to find the address, the student entered a shop and sought the shopkeeper’s help. According to J. T. Tagan, president of the Arunachal Students’ Union in the capital, the shopkeeper and some people present at the shop teased Taniam over the colour of his hair.

Irked, Taniam broke a glass item in the shop for which he later paid Rs7,000. An altercation broke out and the youth was said to have been beaten up with sticks and iron rods by a group of around seven men. He succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, Tagan said.

A youth claiming to be Taniam’s cousin alleged he saw an injury mark on his neck and his lips were torn. “The family has been informed. As they won’t be able to come here, we will take the body back home,” he said.

“This is surely about racism. Everybody in Delhi discriminates against us based on our looks. We are living in India, but we don't know whether we are actually living in India or not,” he told a TV channel.

Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party was at the centre of a racial row this month when its law minister raided a locality to demand action against its African residents who he accused of indulging in drug peddling and prostitution.

The party was in damage control mode on Friday. An AAP leader said the Delhi Police should book the accused at the earliest.