Bengal rescues 18 students from Manipur, Mamata says efforts on to bring back more people

Kolkata, May 8 (PTI) Eighteen students from West Bengal stranded in Manipur were brought back to Kolkata on Monday morning, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

These students were pursuing BSc, MSc and PhD courses at the Central Agricultural University in Imphal, she said.

After distress calls were received at the control room set up in state secretariat Nabanna, the rescue operation was started, Banerjee said.

The students were brought back on a special flight arranged by the state government, and it landed at 10.15 am, she said.

The cost of the travel was borne by the state government, Banerjee said.

“Our officers received them at Kolkata airport special desk, and arranged their further onward journey from Kolkata to their residences,” she tweeted.

Efforts were underway to rescue other people from the state stranded in Manipur, the chief minister said.

The Manipur government helped in the safe passage of the students from the university campus to the Imphal airport, a West Bengal government official said.

Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on Wednesday after tribals organised a demonstration in the ten hill districts of the state to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The clashes displaced around 23,000 people and resulted in the deaths of at least 54 people.