Imphal, October 03: Strongly decrying the excesses committed by cadres of the People's United Liberation Front and to protest their high handedness, the people of Yairipok area today came out in large droves and staged a sit-in-protest while Yairipok bazar remained closed.

Unable to tolerate the huge amount of money demanded from the shop keepers of Yairipok by PULF and the threats and intimidations issued by the outfit to the common people had forced them to come out on the street to lodge their protest, said the aggrieved people of the area today.

During the last few years, PULF has been routinely collecting money from the shop keepers of Yairipok bazar and there have also been bomb attacks on some of the shop keepers who refused to pay up.

The people were forced to live under constant threat to their personal safety if they did not fall in line with the diktats of the outfit.

The people who came out on the street today said that a good number of people of Yairipok have shifted somewhere else unable to bear the heavy monetary demands served on them by PULF and the accompanying threats as well.

The sit-in-protest was organised by the All Yairipok Apunba Lup, a conglomerate of different organisations of Yairipok area.

During the protest all shops at Yairipok downed shutters.

Thousands including shop keepers of Yairipok bazar, people of the nearby areas and school going children participated at the dharna today.

The meeting resolved to collectively oppose the huge monetary demands served on the people by PULF.

The protestors also appealed to all the other organisations to help them.

During the dharna placards with the slogans, "People are unable to meet the monetary demands of PULF," "Don't force the public to leave their homesteads to escape the moneytary demands of PULF".

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