Extortion demands put 3000 odd labourers out of work
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, April 29 2011:
Over 3000 odd labourers of 47 stone crushing centres today came out to raise a protest against UGs demanding money from their work places.
The 47 stone crushing centres located on the sides of the Imphal-Dimapur section of NH 39 between Mantripukhri and Sekmai have remain closed for the last few days due to the unbearable monetary demands from as many as 14 UG groups.
Sources said that the UG groups are pressing proprietors of the stone crushing centres to pay amounts ranging from ' 3 lakhs to 10 lakhs.
Facing threats of dire consequences the proprietors were left with no other choice but to close down the centres leaving 3000 odd labourers jobless.
Helpless labourers today came out to register a strong protest against the UGs demanding money from the centres.
They also submitted a memorandum to the CM urging him to take up necessary action to create a secure environment where labourers can work freely away from all sorts of threats.
A labourer taking part in the sit-in-protest said that they have already been made a victim of the extortionists when one of their colleagues was kidnapped by an UG group on April 11 in connection with the extortion demand.
The labourer was released later at Nungpakthabi, but since the kidnapping of the labourer, stone crushing centres closed with effect from April 24 as the threats continued to persist.
The sit-in-protest was staged after the labourers under the aegis of Northern Valley Stone Crushers Owners' Welfare Association (NVSCOWA) submitted a memorandum to the CM to intervene in resolving the pervasive menace of extortion.
In the memorandum, apart from informing the CM about the unlawful extortion demands also highlighted the plight of the stone crushing units by the double royalty imposed by forest department.