Police crack down on students, 17 hurt
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 22 2013: Carrying on their agitation for removal of Principal in-charge Dr Th Kullachandra, students of Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT) today blocked the Principal in-charge from entering the institute and it led to a police crack down resulting in varying degrees of injuries to 17 students.

Although today is Sunday, around 100 students staged a sit-in-protest at the verandah of the institute demanding removal of the Principal in-charge.

They have been allegging that the Principal indulges in graft besides being unqualified for the post.

According to the students, they were in the midst of their protest agitation when Principal in-charge Dr Th Kullachandra, an administrative officer, a Magistrate and a team of Lamphel police came to the institute at around 1.20 pm.

Police crack down on students

It appeared that the Principal in-charge came to the institute even though it was a holiday so that he could take away documents which may help authorities implicate him for his wrongdoings and manipulate the documents somewhere outside the institute away from the eyes of students, they alleged.

Not long after, the protesting students were told to leave the place within 20 minutes saying that Section 144 of CrPC had been clamped in the area.

Notably, MIT authorities issued an order on September 19 asking hostellers of both the boys' and girls' hostels to vacate their hostels.

Since then, the mess at the hostels have been remaining shut, not serving food to the students.

At present, both the hostels has no wardens, cooks, night wardens, security or care-takers.

Yet, mess fee was collected for one whole year at the time of admission.

With the authority not providing them their daily mess, the students have been preparing their own meals.

Informing that internal assessment examination is going on at present, the agitating students asked how the MIT authorities would justify their decision of forcing the hostellers vacate their hostels during examination.

Even as police asked the students to leave the institute within 20 days, the students defied the warning.

They raised one condition if they must leave the place.

They asked the police team to make the Principal in-charge first leave the institute.

The police team maintained that they have no authority to ask the Principal in-charge to leave the institute and they once again asked the students to leave the place for restrictions have been imposed in the area by an order of the Magistrate.

As the students refused to budge, police resorted to firing tear gas shells, mock bombs and baton charging.

In the process, 17 students suffered varying degrees of injuries.

Thus the agitating students were driven back beyond the institute's main gate.