A student lies on the floor after being beaten up on the NIT campus in Manipur. Telegraph picture

The Bihar government on Tuesday decided to send two senior officials to Manipur for the safe return of the 75 and odd harassed students of the state studying at NIT-Imphal.

Taking serious note of assaults on the institute’s students from outside Manipur last week, home secretary Amir Subhani spoke to the Northeast state’s principal home secretary J. Suresh Babu and director-general of police (DGP) Shahid Ahmad for the safe return of Bihar students. He told The Telegraph: “Principal secretary of the vigilance department C. Lalsota and inspector-general of police (special cell) Jitendra Singh Gangwar will go to Manipur to bring back the state students from NIT-Imphal immediately.”

Some students of Bihar and other states studying at NIT-Imphal claimed that the institute’s administration was exerting pressure on them for not leaving Manipur. An NIT-Imphal student from Patna said: “On Tuesday, senior administrative officers came to our hostel and assured us of security. They asked us not to leave the institute because it would hamper our future.”

Trouble broke out on the Langol campus of NIT, about 5km from Manipur capital Imphal, on the night of September 11 over a senior student hailing from the Northeast state jumping the queue in the mess. A minor altercation snowballed into a clash and the Manipuri students allegedly thrashed several students from outside the state. The next day, five students from outside Manipur, including three from Bihar, were assaulted at the Imphal market. Later, police also allegedly lathicharged on the students from outside.

The incidents triggered a panic among the 186 NIT-Imphal students from the other states and they demanded transfer to other NITs.

A source said the Manipur government had taken the last week’s assaults on the students from outside the Northeast state seriously. Manipur higher education commissioner P. Vaiphei has started an investigation into the trouble at NIT. The probe is in addition to police inquiries by an officer of the rank of additional superintendent of police.

“The higher education commissioner will submit a report in the next two-three days. The government will follow up the matter according to the findings and recommendations,” Manipur’s principal home secretary home Babu told reporters on Tuesday afternoon, adding that normality had returned to the campus.

Manipur DGP Ahmad said the police had registered two cases. “But there are no names in them. We shall know the details after the police investigations are over,” he said.

Isro scientist Y.S. Rajan, the chairman of the board of directors of NIT-Imphal, claimed that the situation was under control in the institute. He reportedly held a meeting NIT-Imphal director Birendra Singh, registrar Rajkumar Lalit Singh and the students from the other states on Tuesday.

A source said the outsider students, in no mood to stay back at NIT-Imphal, demanded action against the hostel wardens and Manipuri students in the meeting. They skipped the institute’s “freshers’ meet”. While the event was in progress at the auditorium, they discussed their problems at the mess hall.

“Our first priority is to move out from Manipur. We shall approach the Centre for shifting us to other NITs,” said a student from Bihar.

NIT-Patna director Asok De, however, said: “There is no provision for shifting students from one NIT to another in mid-session.”

Sources claimed that if the students from other states indeed leave NIT-Imphal, they would have to clear the IIT-Mains exam afresh to get admission to an NIT.