Sir,
The recent raid on black marketers of the Petroleum products by a team of the officials of the Union Home Secretary concentrating in particular area of the Imphal East District is nothing but an eye-wash. It is pertinent to note that the said officials of the Union Home Secretary who are not empowered to search and seize came all along from Delhi a hidden agenda only to search petroleum products in a particular area of the Imphal East District. The so-called staged raid came barely an hour after the Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told at a Development Seminar held only for the Imphal East District at Hotel Classic that the manner in which petrol was sold at Rs. 100/- per liter in black market while almost all the pumps were closed. The recovery of some empty container (Drum/Jerkin) by the Union Home Secretary party clearly shows that the said raid is stage-managed one.
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It is all agreed that because of frequent landslides and blockades on NHs 39 and 53 supply of fuel, LPG and PDS items were disrupted taking advantage of the horrible prevailing conditions in Manipur VVIP’s who are in the seat of Power by employing security personnel harbored persons engaged in black marketing the petrol, LPG and other essential PDS items. In other districts, – such as Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur and in the Hill Districts the petrol, IPG and other PDS items are sold at block market. This being the position, why the Union Home Ministry Officials came to search the petrol only in a particular place in Imphal East District and left after detecting some empty containers without conducting search at Thoubal, Bishnupur, I. W. Dist.? What action the Home Ministry have taken up against the culprits who were involved and responsible in selling petrol, Diesel and LPG in black market in the 2nd MR. barrack resulting to serious inferno in and around 2nd M.R. barrack?
The eye-wash policy of Govt. by raiding the small scale black marketers of petroleum products is an open secret policy without any transparency, just to meet the secret agenda of the vested interest of the some VVIPs who are in the seat of power. The so-called reserved quota system of 25 numbers of LPG Cylinders allocated per month for the all the VVIP’s in Manipur should be stopped and banned forthwith in. order to prevent black marketing the unused cylinders to the public.
The State Govt. should trace out the source of the petroleum products from where the black marketers are procuring the materials and selling in open market, The suppliers of such product are king pin black marketers who are to be booked and punished under the law of the land. The supply to the Oil Depots should be monitored by the State Govt. They should be personalized for the short of petroleum products transported from the oil company. Revenue of the State Govt. from the Sale of such seized products should be disclosed to the genera! public.
Yours faithfully,
Ibomcha Singh