Imphal, May 01 2009: PHARMACIES IN Imphal east and Imphal west districts have decided to close down their shops effective from tomorrow following strong threats to the life saving drug dealers by a group claimed themselves to be activists of the KCP (MC) even as fermented dry fish wholesalers have closed down their shop from today unable to bear heavy monetary demands of the underground outfits.

Sometimes back, a group of KCP(MC) has demanded the wholesale life saving drug dealers to pay Rs 10 lakh.

Following reported pressure from the group, wholesale pharmacies dealers had even closed down in protest against it which was opened after police commandos forced them to open the shops as usual.

But, after remaining silent for some days, some persons identified themselves to be activists of the KCP(MC) repeated asked them to meet their demands or close down their shops immediately with a threaten to face dare consequences, dealers of life saving drug have decided to close down pharmacies effective from tomorrow, informed some pharmacies to the Huiyen Lanpao.

On the other hand, fermented dry fish (Ngari) wholesalers have down shuttered their shops from today and suspended distribution of the item to the retailers owing to the unbearable monetary demand served on them by various underground outfits.

Informing the suspension of their business, representative of dry fish wholesalers today in a briefing to the media persons at Manipur Press Club, Major Khul, Kh Nandakishore said that various underground outfits are demanding around Rs 8 lakh from them.

There are 17 dry fish hold sell dealers in the Imphal market.

Underground outfits like NNC, UNLF, KYKL, PREPAK, KCP and KCP(MC) are demanding money from the dry fish dealers which is one of the essential daily item of the people of the state, Nandakishore added.

Apart from this, they are paying Rs 35,000 in a year to NSCN(IM) as "godown tax" and Rs 8,000 per trip while transporting the item from Assam.

KRA and KLF also taking Rs 10,000 each from them while procuring the dry fish on the highways.

They are paying Rs 1000 per load of truck to the KYKL.

The same outfit is also collecting Rs 50,000 from each shop per year.

KCP and KCP(MC) are demanding around Rs 1 lakh from them.

However, even though UNLF served demand, they did not fix the amount while for the PREPAK, the demand served by them for the last year is yet to pay out, he went on to say.

Above all this, NNC is insisting to pay their demand money by setting deadline to pay within the next five day with threaten to ban playing of the dry fish ferry vehicles on the NH-39 .

Not ended with this to the pressure of the underground, a militant group based at Karbi Anglong area of Assam also taking Rs 10,000 per load above paying Rs 10,000 per trip to the Dimapur Town Committee as toll tax, he added.

Speaking on the process of making fermented fish for onward selling to the people, dealers used to transport during the month of September to March for fermentation which usually need around five months.

As the process of converting the dry fish into fermented fish takes long time and the item is being imported from outside the state, the holder sellers could not earn much profit, Nandakishore clarified on the assumption that they are earning good profits.

If they are to continue their business with profit like other business, they need to hike the price of the fermented fish more less than Rs 20 per Kg from the present rate while if the undergrounds are not demanding the money then, they could sold as low as half the current rate, Nandakishore observed.

By telling the grievances facing by the dry fish wholesale dealers, he appealed the underground outfits concern to relax from taking such kind huge unbearable money from them considering for the people of the state.

He also informed that till there arrived at an agreement on the unbearable monetary demand on them, their shops will remain close.

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