Manipur police foils attempt by students to storm assembly

Correspondent
IMPHAL, July 24

MANIPUR police has foiled the plan to storm the assembly complex where the budget session of the state legislative assembly is on in Imphal for the third time today.
Demanding implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in the state, around 500 students from various educational institutions in the valley under the aegis of the students’ wing of the Joint Action Committee on Inner line permit system in Manipur tried to storm the ongoing assembly session from various directions this morning. However they were prevented from doing so by a police team.
Police also fired tear gas shells to disperse the students. However the students retaliated with stones at the western gate of DM College campus near NCC ground. Later police rounded up 10 agitating students in connection with the agitation.
On Wednesday a number of students were injured when police fired tear gas shells, smoke bombs etc in a bid to disperse the agitating students of Johnstone Higher secondary school here. Personnel of Imphal West Police Commando also sustained injury during retaliation by the agitators with stones. More than 10 students sustained injury during Wednesday’s incident. The widespread agitation of the students was started since Tuesday onwards mostly in the valley districts.
ILP system, which restricts ‘outsiders’ from entering a state and staying there without permission, is enforced in three northeast states – Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. It was withdrawn from Manipur in November 1950 and the people are now demanding introduction of the system for which agitation has been intensified day by day.