The Hindu : National : Unable to pay up ultras, Manipur pharmacies down shutters

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Thursday, May 14, 2009
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Unable to pay up ultras, Manipur pharmacies down shutters

Iboyaima Laithangbam

The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital is running short of life-saving drugs
Officials of hospitals have warned that even emergency operations will have to be stopped

IMPHAL: All pharmacies in Manipur put up the shutters on Wednesday, as there has been no supply since May 1 from 28 stockists, who wound up their operations unable to pay up the sum sought by militants of the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council), Puranthaba group.

As a result, thousands of patients have been left high and dry. The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, a Central government undertaking, has reported that it is running short of life-saving drugs. Officials of government and private hospitals have warned that even emergency operations will have to be stopped.

The police forced the stockists to reopen shops, but the owners refused, saying the police did not give them protection. In the past, the militants targeted several pharmacies with grenades and guns.

The shops selling dried fish have also remained closed since Tuesday in protest against fresh demands made by the militants.

Talking to journalists on Tuesday, trade representatives said the militants at Karbi Along in Assam and Nagaland were extracting huge sums by way of road, goods and godown taxes. Now some militants in Manipur were also demanding tax. These taxes, if paid, would push up the prices by 100 per cent.

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