Imphal, Sept. 11: Three Don Bosco schools in Imphal West and East shut down indefinitely today following extortion demands by a militant group.

Hours later, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal prepared to close its outpatient department for two days from tomorrow to protest constant demands by rebels for money.

Fr Francis, in-charge of the all the Don Bosco schools in Manipur, issued a statement today, revealing serious threats issued by a rebel group against the three schools at Chingmeirong in Imphal East and Langjing and Pheiyeng in Imphal West.

He appealed to all “armed groups” not to make monetary demands on the schools but added that the authorities were left with no choice but to shut down.

A source said a militant group had asked the school authorities to pay Rs 4 lakh jointly. The demand was made on August 16 through text messages on cell phones to the heads of the three institutions.

The decision to shut the schools, however, was taken after the rebels threatened the authorities yesterday.

“If they attack the schools, the students’ lives will be in jeopardy,” a teacher at one of the schools said.

“Because of the continuous threat to the lives of the staff, it has been resolved that the three schools will remain closed till an amicable solution is reached,” the statement said. The school authorities have reported the matter to the police as well.

Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, the largest state-run health institute in Manipur after the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, too, readied to join the growing list of government employees to protest against rebel excesses.

A leader of the J.N. Hospital Employees’ Welfare Association said a militant group had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the hospital. Sadhana Ningthoujam, the leader of the association, said the employees of the hospital would hold a two-day sit-in in the hospital complex from 9am to 4pm. However, in-house patients would be taken care of.

The protest comes at a time when the Okram Ibobi Singh government was planning to upgrade the hospital to a medical college. The school and hospital closure comes days after employees of the Manipur sericulture department staged a sit-in at Lamphel in Imphal West to protest against the extortion notices and threats by three rebel groups.

They feared that Japan may stop funding a project undertaken by it if militants continued to hamper the implementation of the schemes.