Manipur: 30 injured as police baton-charge mob protesting death of two youths

More than 30 students mostly girls were injured in Manipurs Imphal Valley on Tuesday as the police fired tear gas shells and batoncharged a mob protesting against the killing of two youths who were allegedly kidnapped in July officials saidThe students of Imphalbased schools and colleges brought out the protest rallies hours after photos of the bodies of the two youths went viral on social media demanding arrest of those involved in the killingThe protesters clashed with the police near Sanjenthong in Imphal East district when security forces stopped them from advancing towards the chief ministers secretariat hereThe police used tear gas shells and batons to disperse the agitatorsSchool and college students took out a rally in Imphal to protest against the killing of the two youths As the students were heading towards the CMs Secretariat security personnel took action to disperse them a police officer saidOver 30 students were injured in police action and admitted to three hospitals in Imphal officials of the medical facilities saidPhotos of the bodies of the missing students surfaced on social media on Monday following which the Manipur government has asked people to exercise restraint and allow authorities to investigate the kidnapping and killing of the twoThe two youths were identified as Phijam Hemjit 20 and Hijam Linthoingambi 17Students also took out rallies at Uripok Old Lambulane Singjamei in Imphal West district demanding arrest of those involved in the killing of the two youthsSimilar clashes between students and security forces have been reported from Thoubal Kakching and Bishnupur districtsAbungo Th a student who participated in the protest told the media The missing students were killed and the govt is yet to arrest the killers The location of the bodies where they have been buried is still unknown The government is reluctant to take actionIn a statement issued by the secretariat of Chief Minister N Biren Singh late on Monday night the state government said the case has already been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBIThe state police in collaboration with the central security agencies are actively investigating the case to determine the circumstances surrounding their disappearance and to identify the perpetrators who murdered the two students The security forces have also started the search operation to nab the perpetrators the statement saidSecurity personnel have been put on alert and additional measures taken to prevent any incident after the photos of the students have gone viral a senior officer saidThe government assured people that swift and decisive action will be taken against all those involved in the kidnapping and killing of Phijam Hemjit and Hijam Linthoingambi the statement saidThe government is committed to ensuring justice and will impose severe punishment on any perpetrator found responsible for the heinous crime it saidThe police had previously said that the whereabouts of the two were not known and their mobile phones were found switched offThe last location of their handsets was traced at Lamdan near the winter flower tourist spot in the Churachandpur district they had said earlierManipur has been witnessing ethnic violence since early MayMore than 175 people have been killed and several hundreds injured since ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state on May 3 when a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei communitys demand for Scheduled Tribe statusMeiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipurs population and live mostly in the Imphal valley while tribals including Nagas and Kukis constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districtsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever