One hundred and twenty-eight students of Sikkim on Monday returned home from violence-hit Manipur, officials said. The students who were stranded in Manipur were brought home by the state government under 'Operation Guraas', they said.
The Sikkimese students were evacuated first to Kolkata by flights on Sunday from where they were brought to Siliguri by the buses late last evening. They spent a night in the North Bengal town at the facilities arranged by the state government before boarding SNT buses on their way to the Himalayan state this morning.
The Sikkimese students reached the border town of Rango in the afternoon and were taken to their respective destinations in vehicles arranged by the state government. The returning Sikkimese students were studying in various professional institutions in Manipur.
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Upon arriving in Sikkim, the students and their guardians expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang and all officials involved in the operation. Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on Wednesday 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.
