Overview
- The Manipur Petroleum Dealers Fraternity said on Sunday that closures across the Manipur Valley and adjoining areas will continue due to bomb threats and extortion demands.
- Dealers report recurring threats to life and property from militant or banned groups and describe the situation as an unprecedented safety crisis.
- The fraternity gave the state a December 22–28 window to provide security and a concrete resolution, warning the suspension will persist if demands are unmet.
- Operators say they must sell at government-fixed rates and collect VAT—Rs 19.56 per litre on petrol and Rs 10.11 on diesel—so they cannot pass illegal demands to consumers.
- The MPDF warns that complying with extortion could draw punitive action, including possible use of the National Security Act, even as reports note hundreds of arrests during President’s Rule.