The death toll from ethnic skirmishes in India's rural northeast increased to 54 on Saturday, despite officials deploying soldiers to restore calm.

Thousands of military were dispatched to Manipur state after a tribal protest march turned violent on Wednesday.

Authorities enforced an internet blackout and issued shoot-at-sight orders in "extreme cases" to try to quell the unrest.

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The situation remained tense during a new round of rioting on Friday night, only hours after the state's senior police commander warned that protesters had taken weapons and ammunition from police stations.

According to local media, hospital morgues in the state capital Imphal and the Churachandpur region farther south recorded a total of 54 deaths. Press Trust of India news agency cited an unnamed official saying that 16 bodies were kept in the morgue of the Churachandpur district hospital while 15 bodies were in Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal East district.

"The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences at Lamphel in Imphal West district reported 23 dead." 

P. Doungel, the director general of police in Manipur, told reporters on Friday that security forces were working to put the situation under control. Army patrols had "gone a long way to quell the thing off", he said.

He added that certain police stations had been invaded by "miscreants" who stole weapons and ammunition, and he issued a public call for their return.

The Manipur government and security forces have yet to provide an official death toll from this week's unrest. Kiren Rijiju, India's law minister, told reporters on Saturday that "many lives have been lost" as a result of days of fighting and property destruction.

The internet shutdown has slowed the flow of information from Manipur, and specifics on the most recent battles are few.

According to an Indian army battalion headquartered in neighboring Nagaland state, 13,000 people have sought refuge from the fighting.

Last month, sectarian clashes rocked parts of India in the town of Biharsharif between a majority of Hindus and a minority of Muslims. 

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