Imphal: At least 50 students were injured, mostly females, when Manipur police fired tear gas and mock bombs to disperse thousands of students who took to the streets of Imphal and staged a sit-in protest at the Raj Bhavan gate on Tuesday.
The students were demanding early justice against the killing of two school students whose bodies were found near a boulder in a forested area on Monday.
The case is currently being handled by the CBI. The situation in Imphal is tense but under control on Tuesday, the police said.
The students blocked the roads and later took out a rally that started from Ibotonsana Higher Secondary School, Imphal.
Later, hundreds of students from different educational institutes staged a road blockades at different strategic locations in Imphal Valley. The students of the CC Higher Secondary School blocked the road leading to the CM’s office. The protesting students later stormed the Raj Bhavan gate where they staged a sit-in protest.
The police opened fire with tear gas and mock bombs to disperse the protesters at different places in the Imphal city. The injured students were rushed to the RIMS, JNIMS, Raj Medicity, and other private hospitals.
The students took to the streets after the photos of two students, Phijam Hemjit, 20, and Hijam Linthoingambi, 17, who have been missing since July 6, 2023, surfaced on social media.
Police found CCTV footage showing the two riding a KTM bike heading towards Khoupum through Lamdan, Churachandpur district, the epicenter of the ongoing communal violence between the Kukis and Meities that started on May 3, 2023.
However, the police could not follow up the trace of their whereabouts due to the ongoing crisis in the state and the area being dominated by the Kukis.