West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has informed that 18 students from the state, who were stranded in the riot-torn Manipur, were brought back to Kolkata on Monday, May 8, morning. The students were pursuing BSc, MSc and PhD courses at the Central Agricultural University in Imphal, she said.

Banerjee said the rescue operation was started after distress calls were received at the control room set up in Nabanna, the secretariat. The students were brought back on a special flight arranged by the state government, and it landed at 10.15 am. The cost of the travel was borne by the state government, as per a report by PTI.

"Our officers received them at Kolkata airport special desk, and arranged their further onward journey from Kolkata to their residences," the Chief Minister tweeted. She added that efforts were underway to rescue other people from the state stranded in the Northeastern state. According to a government official, the Manipur government helped in the safe passage of the students from the university campus to the Imphal airport.

Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on Wednesday, May 3, 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, as per the PTI report.