Amidst an uneasy calm prevailing in Manipur, which had witnessed bloody rioting over the last 48 hours, all the students of Tripura stranded in different locations are totally safe and under the security covers of central forces, said Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha.

Since Friday morning no fresh violence was reported overnight between communities amid heavy presence of security forces in different districts of Manipur and more than 250 students of the state are presently stranded in different hostels of RIMS, Central Agriculture University and an engineering college.

Speaking with media persons, Chief Minister Dr Saha said that he had a detailed discussion with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and highlighted overall safety and security of all stranded Tripura students.

He also said that he requested the Union Home Minister to stress priority over the safety and security of all Tripura students. Dr Saha said that he also had a telephonic conversation with the Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh on Friday afternoon and had detailed discussion over the safety of all stranded Tripura students.

“The Manipur CM informed me that the situation in the state is under control and he assured me to seriously look after the safety of all Tripura students,” said Dr Saha.

In the afternoon, the Chief Minister had a high level meeting with the Chief Secretary, DGP and other concerned officials of the state government at his official residence and had detailed discussion over the present situation of Manipur and safety of state’s students.

" I have spoken to our chief secretary and DGP and instructed them to talk to officials of Manipur about the safety and evacuation of the stranded students",  said Dr Saha and added that the Chief Secretary and DGP had also spoken to their counterparts in Manipur.

The Chief Minister claimed the students from Tripura in Manipur are still in their respective hostels under CRPF security coverage and all of them are safe.

"We are closely monitoring the situation in Manipur and if the situation requires all the stranded students will be evacuated but we will not take any hasty steps," he said.

Saha said a 24X7 helpline has been set up to help the students of Tripura or anybody from the state stranded in Manipur. Government of Tripura has opened the helpline numbers for providing support on 24x7 basis to the residents of Tripura with respect to disturbance in Manipur: ERSS: 112, State Emergency Operation Centre : 1070/ 0381-2416045/ 2416241 and Whatsapp number: 8787676210, said Dr Saha.

"I have already spoken to a faculty of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and requested to collect contacts of all the medical students from Tripura in the institute", he said, adding contact has also been established with leaders of Tripura Students' Union in Manipur to know the ground situation.

While, giving details of the review meeting,  the secretary of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA) department and secretary of Chief Minister Dr P K Chakraborty said that Chief Minister with review meeting had also enquired the present status of all stranded Tripura students and in the  meeting along with  Chief Secretary, DGP ,a senior CRPF official was also present.

"The situation in Manipur is gradually limping back to normalcy as briefed by the CRPF officials present in the meeting. Our students are safe and protected there ", said secretary to the Chief Minister Dr Chakraborty.

More than 200 students of Tripura studying in the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal and about 40 students studying in Central Agriculture University are stranded in Manipur due to the violence, he said, adding that the state is keeping close contact with the Manipur government and has also regular touch with the parents of Tripura students.

Dr Chakraborty appealed to all people not to spread any rumours or fall prey to any kind of rumours as the situation of Manipur rapidly went under control.

The Imphal Valley in Manipur remained peaceful but tense on Friday, however, intermittent gunfights between militant groups and security forces were reported from the hill districts surrounding the valley.

Violence first erupted in Torbung area in Manipur's Churachandpur district during the 'Tribal Solidarity March' organised by All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) on Wednesday to protest the demand of Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

During the march in Torbung, an armed mob allegedly attacked people of the Meitei community, leading to retaliatory attacks in the valley districts, which escalated the violence throughout the state, police said.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of population in Manipur and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals, who include Nagas and Kukis, account for another 40 per cent of the population and live mostly in the hill districts which surround the Valley.