Imphal, December 22 2008: WHILE THE people are facing unavailability of LPG cooking gas following the suspension of functioning of the Sekmai Bottling Plant, pouring their woes the jobless labourers of the plant has appealed to the underground group serving monetary demand to the plant to withdraw the same and allow resuming the functioning of the plant.

In a statement the AOC Contractual Labour Union, a body of the labourers of the Sekmai Bottling Plant also urged the state government to solve the problem in the plant at the earliest and bring normalcy in the working of the plant considering the woe of the labourers who are living with wages from the plant.

While appealing the NSCN (IM) to withdraw the demand for godown tax from the plant, the body also urged other underground groups not to give any kinds of pressure to the plant in connection with monetary demand which will amount to disturbed in the functioning the plant.

The statement further said that they will also start staging sit-in protest in front of the plant gate from tomorrow.

The functioning of the plant was suspended following blocking of the bullet tankers and LPG laden trucks by the NSCN (IM) on December 10 last and subsequent detention of a tanker in its custody.

The driver was rescued later by the Assam Rifles.

The functioning of the plant remained suspended from December 16 as there were no LPG stocks in the plant after the drivers refused to resume the service despite government arrangement for adequate security escort citing that security escort could do nothing to safeguard their life when they were threatened by the NSCN(IM) cadres.

They said that at the time when they were forced back by the NSCN (IM) cadres from the way on December 8 last.

The detention of their colleague by them was also while going with the security escorts, they blamed.

The drivers refused to resume their services even though state police chief Y Joykumar assured of full security proof upto Mao on the highway.

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