10 students die as cops open fire in Meghalaya
Afp, Guwahati
Ten students were killed and 90 people injured yesterday when police opened fire during two separate clashes with thousands of protestors in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, an official said. The incidents occurred in the towns of Tura and Williamnagar when thousands of students staged violent protests against plans to move a school education board to the state capital Shillong from Tura, the official said. The issue has been simmering for a month or so, with almost daily protests. "Five students each died in Tura and Williamnagar when police opened fire on mobs who were making coordinated attacks on the offices of the district magistrates in the two headquarters," Maghalaya Education Minister Mukul Sangma said. "The injured included 54 policemen and three senior magistrates. The condition of many of the injured are critical," he added. Police opened fire on a crowd of about 1,000 students in Tura after they began throwing stones at them and refused to disperse despite a baton charge and water canons before opening fire. Police imposed an indefinite curfew on the two towns following the violence. The two towns are dominated by the Garo tribe which opposes moving the education board as it regards it as a matter of prestige that it stays in Tura.
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