Photo Courtesy: nenow
Imphal: Tension boiled over at the Jiribam police station on Tuesday as 1,500 truck and tanker drivers launched a protest. The drivers remain stranded along National Highway 37 between Jiribam and the Assam border. They have been stuck for 15 days on a 20-kilometre stretch of road. Food and cash reserves are running thin.
The trouble started when security forces sent only one convoy instead of the requested two. This left vehicles sitting ducks on the road to Imphal. Frustrated truckers gathered at the station around 9 am to demand a second escort or permission to drive without protection. By 2 pm, the Central Reserve Police Force finally deployed a second convoy to move the backlog.
The first group included 85 fuel tankers and 65 goods trucks. Despite the movement, the Transporters and Drivers Council is not backing down. They issued a five-day ultimatum to the state government. TDC President Hijam Ranjit made the threat clear. "If the state government fails to arrange adequate security escorts for the stranded vehicles before the deadline, transporters will drive towards Imphal with or without official protection," he said.
Ranjit insists the government bears full responsibility for any attacks or failures if they force drivers to travel solo. The standoff remains tense until the state guarantees consistent armed protection for the vital supply route.
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