A militant outfit in Manipur has threatened to execute six people including a junior minister on December 31 for a scam in the school education department.

Except the minister all the other five are in the custody of the outlawed Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup.

In a written statement to local newspapers in Imphal, the KYKL has appealed to the people of Manipur to air their views on the issue, saying it would give "maximum respect to the public voice".

The KYKL announcement has sent the Manipur administration into a tizzy.

According to Manipur's Director General of Police S Bimolchandra Singh Police the security of the School Education Minister Maniruddin Sheikh has been tightened and efforts to track down the other five people accused by the militant outfit of corruption are on.

Accusing Sheikh of taking Rs 120,000 each from 36 project officers who had been allegedly appointed in violation of rules, the KYKL said he would face the same punishment as those who were in its custody. The state Cabinet is understood to have discussed the matter.

Police, however, claim that the families of the five people had not lodged complaints. "None of the families has filed an FIR. We have registered a suo moto case on the basis of newspaper reports," a police official said.

Sheikh and the five hostages allegedly pocketed huge amounts of money by illegally appointing block research coordinators for the Centre-sponsored Sharva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The five peopple held captive by the KYKL are Kh Raghumani, deputy secretary in the school education department, Sheikh's personal security officer, Nashir Ahmed, N Shyamacharan, O Priyokumar and Sh Ranjit.

The KYKL said Raghumani, who is a Manipur Civil Services officer, connived with the minister of state for school education to appoint 36 project officers "through the backdoor".

The outfit claimed to have evidence that he took Rs 70,000 from each of these officers. It said Sheikh's personal security officer, who is of the rank of inspector of police, was the middleman in the alleged appointment racket. The news of the KYKL's plan to execute the hostages spread like wildfire. Public meetings were held in the localities where the five people reside.

The Meitei National Front appealed to the insurgent outfit to free Raghumani so that he could rectify his mistakes.

Militant outfits in Manipur have executed drug peddlers in the recent past but this is the first time that government officials and a minister have been threatened with execution.