Newmai News Network
Imphal: Several more students were hurt in police action in Imphal as they stepped up agitations over the presumed killing of two missing teenage students on Wednesday.
After the photos of the killing of the two teenage students – Phijam Hemjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17), both from Imphal – surfaced on the internet, students across the valley district were protesting and demanding justice for the missing students by booking the culprits.
On Tuesday, the first day of the agitations, over 50 students were injured in the brutal crackdown by the police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel at several places in Imphal.
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Despite the brutal crackdown and declaration of a holiday to all schools, the students continued their protests across the five valley districts.
In today’s crackdown using tear gas shells and mock bombs, several students were injured and among them around 20 of them, mostly female students were admitted at various hospitals in Imphal.
Several students were injured in the crackdown by the police and RAF after a clash broke out when they prevented hundreds of students from carrying out a protest rally toward the chief minister’s secretariat at Moirangkhom along NH-102 in Imphal.
Among them, nine injured female students were rushed to nearby hospitals. The incident occurred around 1 pm.
Earlier, the police and RAF personnel prevented the rally from carrying out further while asking them to disperse, sparking tensions among the students.
In retaliation to tear gas shells and mock bombs used by the police and RAF to disperse the crowd, some among the students pelted stones toward them.
In another scuffle that broke out at Keishamthong around the same time, many students were injured.
Sources said that as many as 14 students including nine girls injured in the police action were admitted at Raj Medicity hospital.
Some other injured students were also rushed to other hospitals. The number, however, could not be ascertained till the time of filing this report.
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In Thoubal district headquarters too, hundreds of students who carried out a rally in protest against the cold-blooded murder of the two students clashed with the police and security forces.
The clash broke out as the students agitated while expressing strong dissatisfaction with regard to a response from the DC of the district who submitted a memorandum as a part of the protest.
Meanwhile, medical students of JNIMS and Shija Academy of Health Sciences also joined the protest demanding the booking of the culprits involved in the alleged killing of the two missing students.
The students of these medical colleges staged protests in their respective institutes’ campuses while displaying placards with slogans demanding justice for the two missing students. The MBBS students also condemned the brutal crackdown on the students by the police and Central security forces.
“We want justice for Linthoingambi and Hemjit” and “We condemn the brutal crackdown on students,” read the banner displayed at the protest site at JNIMS hospital campus.
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The medical students also carried out a protest rally on the streets around the JNIMS, Porompat at the concluding part of the protest.
Talking to reporters on the sideline of the protest, the president of the Students’ Association of JNIMS Dinesh insisted that a fair trial should be conducted so that the culprits behind the killing of the two innocent teenage students get the harshest punishment.
He said that the medical students raised their voices to show their strong denouncement against the cold-blooded murder.
While recalling that when the parading of two women naked surfaced on the internet, every section of the society including even the Prime Minister of India came out to condemn the incident, he asked why the Prime Minister, Union home minister, other Central leaders, state chief minister, ministers and MLAs of the state remained silent when the photos of the brutal killing of the two students surfaced in the social media.
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It is very unfortunate that all the people in power chose to remain silent even as the photos of the cold-blooded murder of the two innocent teenage students surfaced, he said.
While pressing the concerned authority to book the culprits at the earliest for the end of justice, the president cautioned that if no visible actions come up in the next few days, the medical students will launch intense forms of agitations.
Students of four engineering institutes – MIT, MTU, NIT & Polytechnic – also joined the chorus demanding justice for the two missing students by staging a protest demonstration at the campus of the today Polytechnic at Takyel in Imphal West district.
The photos of the bodies of the two missing students went viral on social media on Monday, leading to protests by students across the valley districts of the state.
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Meanwhile, with people of different walks of life, mostly womenfolk, joining the chorus of protests at various places, the state authority curtailed the curfew relaxation period for the day to 4 pm in the twin capital districts of Imphal East and Imphal West.
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