Multiple protests were witnessed across Imphal for the second day running on Wednesday over the murder of two students who had been missing since July 6 in Manipur.

At least 50 students were injured during a standoff with security forces and a mob set on fire the district office of the ruling BJP in Thoubal district.

A police statement issued on Wednesday night said an “unruly crowd” tried to attack the house of a political leader but the joint security forces repelled the crowd. The police did not identify the leader. Security sources said the crowd tried to attack the Imphal East residence of state BJP president A. Sharda Devi around 7.45pm but the attempt was foiled.

The statement said a group of protesters burnt a police vehicle while assaulting a policeman and snatching his weapon.

The administration reimposed curfew from 4pm in Imphal West district, narrowing the relaxation phase that had been starting at 5am and ending at 9pm. Total curfew was reimposed in Imphal East district.

Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh met representatives of the students. In the evening, the chief minister appealed to the people to have faith in the government’s handling of the case.

Singh said a large number of people had turned out on the streets in different places “out of emotion and anger after seeing the viral photographs of the two students”.

The chief minister said he had instructed the security forces to exercise “maximum restraint while controlling the mob” and that “action would be initiated if security personnel use excessive action against the public, especially students, in controlling their agitation”.

School and college students were out on the streets at several locations in Manipur’s capital city between 10am and 11am, seeking justice for the murdered students, leading to a confrontation with the security forces when they tried to march towards the chief minister’s bungalow.

The protest by students began on Tuesday after photographs featuring the two murdered Meitei students, Phijam Hemjit, 20, and Hijam Linthoingambi, 17, surfaced on social media on Monday.

On Wednesday, security personnel fired smoke bombs and wielded the baton to disperse the students, leaving at least 50 of them injured, two Imphal residents told The Telegraph.

Protests were also held in Bishnupur and Thoubal districts, they said, adding that the general public joined the protests as the day progressed.

Chief minister Singh met the student representatives in groups from around 1pm to 3.30pm in an attempt to calm the situation, sources said.

On Tuesday, the government had ordered the closure of schools till Friday and reimposed the ban on mobile Internet services.

“The students are protesting peacefully and they wanted to meet the chief minister because he is our guardian,” a member of the Meira Paibi (Meitei women torchbearers) said.

One of the student representative groups submitted a memorandum to the chief minister seeking the arrest of the culprits within 30 days from Wednesday and the lifting of the Internet ban, among others, sources said.

By 2.30pm, a CBI team led by special director Ajay Bhatnagar landed in Imphal to probe the deaths of the two students. The chief minister had announced on Tuesday night that a CBI team would come.

However, the temperature outside continued to soar with a huge crowd assembling at the three-storeyed district BJP office at Khongjom in Thoubal district and setting it on fire around 3pm. Khongjom is about 32km south of Imphal.

The BJP has been leading a coalition government in Manipur since 2017.

“There must have been around 1,000 students, Meira Paibis and youths protesting the death of the two students and seeking justice. After sending away the 25 security personnel, they not only set the office on fire but later brought a JCB and broke down the walls on three sides of the ground floor. They left around 6pm. Security forces could not enter as the roads were blocked,” a BJP leader told this newspaper.