As traders protest,Nagaland wakes up to extortion menace

Three days after the trading community in Nagaland threatened to pull down shutters in the wake of increasing extortion demands from different underground groups.

Three days after the trading community in Nagaland threatened to pull down shutters in the wake of increasing extortion demands from different underground groups,the Neiphiu Rio government in the hill state has finally woken up and claims to be taking steps to prevent the menace.

While the Nagaland Medicine Dealers Association NMDA has already set a deadline till Monday for the government to take action,the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce has also threatened to follow suit.

Nagaland Home Minister Imkong L Imchen,who called an emergency meeting of officials on Saturday,said the government had decided to strengthen the district police,intelligence,Special Operations Team,and the Special Branch of the police to arrest the menace of extortion.

A meeting of officers of law enforcing agencies,security forces and the district administration seriously viewed the recent upsurge of extortion activities in Dimapur,official sources said. The minister,however,also blamed the business community for the situation. If they have received extortion notes,they should inform the police. Unless they are informed,the police cannot act, he said.

While the minister also met the business community,the latter said while illegal tax collection started from check gates,extortion and demand notes kept coming even after the commodities reached the business hubs and retail shops.

Several groups,whether national workers or underground organisations,have started increasing pressure to pay huge sums of money as tax. The government has done practically nothing on the ground, complained Ato Yepthomi,president of the Nagaland Medicine Dealers Association. He said at least six different groups had sent out tax notices in the recent weeks. We have been all giving them donations from time to time. Some organisations even have an annual tax structure. But this year the rates have gone up like never before, said Yepthomi.

A dealer,who was coughing up Rs 10,000 per annum till last year,has reportedly been asked to pay up to Rs 60,000 by one of the groups this year.

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There have been a number of abductions with different groups whisking away people who refuse to pay or pay less, said Dimapur Chamber of Commerce president Hokivi Assumi.

Dimapur SP Zekotso Mero,however,said steps had been taken to stop the extortions. We have stepped up vigilance and inducted two more companies of paramilitary forces. We have made several arrests in the last few weeks, he said.