Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 22 2008:
In protest against the demand for godown taxes from bullet vehicles being used for transportation of domestic LPG cylinders, a Wakat Meepham here tomorrow.
According to be information received by the press, the decision to stage the protest demonstration tomorrow was arrived at after a meeting at Hotel Nirmala here today.
The meeting took serious note of the threat and demand of a hill-based UG group which is undergoing peace talk with the Government of India for paying godown tax by the bullet vehicles.
Apart from owners of the bullet vehicles, the meeting was attended by officials of IOC including those from the LPG bottling plant at Sekmai and the distributors of the cooking gas, sources disclosed.
It may be recalled here that on December 8 around 16 bullet vehicles which have gone from Imphal to lift cooking gas were forced to return from Maram of Senapati district by the armed cadres of the UG group who insisted on paying godown taxes.
As the bullet vehicles have stopped lifting cooking gas following the demand, the work at the bottling plant at Sekmai has also come to a grinding halt since December 16 .
Meanwhile, the State level co-ordinator has convened a joint meeting of the cooking gas dealers tomorrow to discuss the present impasse, according to a reliable source.