IMPHAL, Feb 16 ? Manipur Food and Civil Supply Minister Ph. Parijat Singh whose house was attacked yesterday by militants, today alleged that separatist United National Liberation Front (UNLF) had demanded Rs 30 lakhs from him. Singh said the UNLF insurgents had given him an extortion demand notice of Rs 30 lakh about a month ago with a warning of dire consequences if the money was not paid, he told PTI here.
Unidentified militants had attacked Singh's residence yesterday with a powerful grenade which did not explode. It was later defused by the experts. Singh said his family members received phone calls minutes after yesterday's incident from an anonymous person identifying himself as an UNLF spokesman, saying that the grenade was hurled at his house by them to give a last warning to the minister.
The caller had said the grenade would not explode since the detonator was removed, Singh said adding that the caller said if the money was not paid, the UNLF would attack the house again to cause grievous injuries to its occupants. The minister was not in his house when the attack took place. Singh, a senior CPI leader, appealed to the UNLF to withdraw their demand notice and added that he did not have the money to pay to the banned outfit.
He said unidentified militants had also attacked the private house of his party colleague and Art and Culture Minister Nara Singh at Tengtha area in Thoubal district by opening fire on February 12 last. Before that, he said, the banned Kanglei Yawol Kann Lup (KYKL) had demanded Rs 10 lakh from Nara Singh who had not paid the amount. Nara Singh was not immediately available for comment.