As many as 60 students mostly females were injured when anti-riot-wielding police fired mock bombs and tear gas shells 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 agitating students are demanding early justice against the killing of 2 school students whose lifeless bodies lie near a boulder in a forested area that went viral on social media on Monday.

The irate 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 joined the road blockade agitation at different strategic locations in Imphal Valley.

As a last resort, the protesting students stormed the Raj Bhavan gate where they staged a sit-in protest.

To disperse the gatherings, the police opened fire tear gas shells, and mock bombs causing injuries to the students. The injured were rushed to the RIMS, JNIMS, Raj Medicity, and other private hospitals.

The unprecedented protests were made after the photos of 2 students, Phijam Hemjit, 20, and Hijam Linthoingambi, 17, who have been missing since July 6, 2023, surfaced on social media. But the case has already been handed over to the CBI.

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.  Meanwhile, police said that the situation on Tuesday is tense but under control.