NDTV reports that the protesting students were part of an organisation that had been agitating for a tough law regarding an Inner Line Permit regime, a rule to restrict the entry of outsiders into the state. The organisation mostly draws its strength from students, even school-going ones.
Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the mob, which had been trying to head for the Manipur assembly. In March, the Manipur government tabled a bill in Assembly that will enforce the tracking of all outsiders who enter the state. But the protesters maintain the bill has no teeth.