Thirty-five students from West Bengal were flown back to Kolkata from violence-hit Manipur, a senior government official said today, Wednesday, May 10. A special flight was arranged by the state government for the purpose, which landed at the city's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Tuesday, May 9.

"Thirty-five more students from West Bengal have been evacuated from Imphal via special flight which landed at 8 pm on Tuesday. They hail from Darjeeling, Cooch Behar, Malda, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas districts and from the city," the official said, as mentioned in a report by PTI.

Out of the 35 rescued students, 13 were studying at the National Sports University in Manipur, 14 at NIT Manipur, five at RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences) in Imphal and three at IIIT Imphal, the official informed. He added that transit accommodation and onward journeys were also arranged for the students.

Violent clashes broke out in Manipur state after a demonstration was organised in the 10 hill districts of the state on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The clashes were preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations, as per PTI.