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A 32-year-old man was killed on Friday and over 130 students injured, including seven in firing by paramilitary forces, when demonstrators protesting extension of the Naga ceasefire to Manipur clashed with security personnel in a bid to enter the Raj Bhavan in Imphal defying prohibitory orders, official sources said.
The sources said Laitonjam Rajkumar Singh succumbed to bullet injuries.
The condition of six others injured was stated to be serious, they added.
Though the para-military forces were asked by police commandos not to open fire at the height of the skirmishes with the students, they did so 'because of a misunderstanding'.
An unspecified number of policemen were also hurt when the students resorted to stone throwing, the sources added.
Trouble began when over 3,000 students took out a procession from the All Manipur Students Union office to Raj Bhawan, defying prohibitory orders, to hand over their books to Governor Ved Marwah and to tell him that they had suspended their studies, the sources said.
The police and paramilitary forces prevented the students from going beyond Samumakhong area in the Khuwaramband market complex, sources said.
The students insisted on meeting the governor and 26 representatives were selected to go to Raj Bhawan, following which a scuffle ensued with the security forces, who first fired 100 teargas shells followed by rubber bullets, the sources said.
The 26 students, who were to meet the governor, were detained for an hour by the security forces and then let off.
The injured students were admitted to the Regional Institute of Medical Science Hospital and the rest in different hospitals. The condition of 30 was stated to be 'serious'.
The police arrested 70 protestors for defying prohibitory orders, the sources said.
Meanwhile, curfew was reimposed from 2.20 pm in the Imphal municipal area, with the army and para-military forces conducting flag-marches as the situation was extremely tense, the sources said.
An AMSU spokesman said that all educational institutions in the state would remain closed for two days 'as there was no point in pursuing studies till the ceasefire was revoked'.
The immediate provocation for the demonstration by students, the sources said, was Thursday's meeting in support of the ceasefire extension in the hill district of Senapati by Nagas who drove over from Nagaland.
PTI
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