"If the state government does not take the consensus views of the Nagas, it should be ready to face unwanted consequences," the All Naga Students' Association of Manipur (Ansam) warned even as the Sadar Hills agitators intensified their ongoing blockade on National Highways 39 and 53 on Saturday.
"The Ansam in particular and the Nagas in general will like to remind the state government that Sadar Hills district will not be allowed to be created by means of carving out parts of Naga-dominated areas in Manipur," the apex Naga students' body said in a statement.
On Friday midnight, blockade supporters torched a post office building and a primary health centre in Sadar Hills. They also dug up large caters on NH-39 to stop traffic flow.
The Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) has been imposing a weeklong economic blockade along the two key supply routes of the state since Sunday midnight. It intensified the stir with imposing an indefinite general strike from Tuesday midnight in Sadar Hills in Naga dominated Senapati district.
Over 10 vehicles, including trucks carrying essential items and private cars, have been torched and man damaged along NH 39 and NH 53 ( Imphal- Silchar route) since the SHDDC imposed the strike.
In the meantime, police said a Naga rebel arrested in connection with Monday's explsoion at a market here revealed that one of the blast victims, Anthony, was the town commander of the NSCN(IM). This despite the outfit's denial of its role in the blast that had killed five persons, including two girls. Acting on specific tip-off, Imphal West police arrested an NSCN (IM) rebel, Sekho Dingthoi Nelson Chiru (52), on Friday morning from Sangaiporou here. Sekho told police that he was assigned to help the NSCN (IM) in extortion. He added that Anthony was among the blast victims.