By IANS
Imphal : Naga students set ablaze five government schools in Manipur to step up their demand of having institutions located in the state's Naga-inhabited areas affiliated to the Nagaland Board of Secondary Education (NBSE).
A police spokesperson said the five schools burnt down Wednesday were located in the Naga-dominated Ukhrul, Senapati and Chandel districts of Manipur.
"We suspect activists of the All Naga Students' Association of Manipur to be behind the incidents," a senior police official said.
The students' body has been demanding affiliation of schools in the Naga-dominated areas to the NBSE, a move the Manipur government has rejected earlier. In July last year, the group burnt thousands of textbooks prescribed by the Board of Secondary Education in Manipur.
The demand is seen as a part of the campaign by the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) for unification of Naga-inhabited areas in Manipur and other parts of the northeast to Greater Nagaland.
Authorities have sounded an alert in the three districts and have intensified vigil around all schools in the area.
"Action would be taken against the culprits and efforts are on to trace them," the official said.