Petrol pump dealers across Manipur's Imphal Valley districts and adjoining areas have escalated their protest by continuing an indefinite shutdown of operations, warning of a complete suspension if state authorities fail to provide adequate security and decisively curb escalating extortion demands, bomb threats, and unlawful monetary impositions by December 28, 2025, potentially triggering a severe fuel shortage across the region.

In a strongly worded statement issued on December 21, 2025, the Manipur Petroleum Dealers Fraternity (MPDF) voiced deep frustration over the complete absence of tangible response from the administration following their detailed memorandum submitted to Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on December 10, which highlighted persistent risks to life, property, and business sustainability amid unrelenting intimidation tactics.

The state, governed under President's Rule since February 2025 following the resignation of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh over criticisms related to the management of ethnic violence that erupted in May 2023, has witnessed militant groups exploiting the prolonged instability to systematically target commercial entities, including fuel retail outlets, despite numerous arrests of individuals linked to extortion activities.

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Dealers underscored their vulnerable position as government-authorised agents obligated to dispense petroleum products strictly at centrally fixed prices, with no flexibility to inflate rates in order to absorb illegal levies, while also remitting substantial Value Added Tax to the state—approximately Rs 19.56 per litre on petrol and Rs 10.11 on diesel—making compliance with demands financially ruinous and refusal perilous due to direct threats of violence.

Facing an untenable dilemma where yielding to extortion invites legal repercussions including potential invocation of the National Security Act and non-compliance results in bomb threats and personal endangerment, the MPDF affirmed that prolonged operations have become unsustainable, compelling them to maintain the shutdown and intensify agitation until credible protective measures and a lasting resolution are implemented by the authorities.

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