Mobile phone services affected in Sopore as fear stricken employees refuse to attend work
Mobile phone services in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district Wednesday were adversely affected with some telecommunication companies suspending their operations as fear stricken employees refused to get back on the work following threats by unidentified gunmen.
The development came after series of attacks on telecommunication offices, towers and killing of two persons including an employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) by unidentified gunmen in the Apple Town.
Local residents said that three private telecommunication companies completely suspended their operation and only Airtel and state-run BSNL were functioning. They, however, said that the internet connectivity of these two telecom companies was poor in the restive Sopore and its adjoining areas.
On Monday, unidentified gunmen walked into a BSNL franchise in Shah Faisal Market in the town and fired at three persons including two employees and its owner. Later, one of the injured employees succumbed to his injuries. The gunmen last night barged into the house of a landlord and shot him for hosting the mobile telecommunication tower. The landlord died on the spot. Since the beginning of this month, the tensions between gunmen and telecom companies are running high after a high tech communication device installed by the former on a mobile tower was removed by telecom employees.
Posters attributed to a hitherto unknown Lashkar-e-Islam outfit surfaced in the town and warned telecom operators to wind up their operations.
A senior employee of Aircel told Srinagar based news agency GNS on the condition of anonymity: “As of now we were have been told to stop our operations. Some mobile tower sites were closed but then army intervened and had told to resume operations. At some places, landlords at their shut the towers but then technical staff resumed the services themselves. The operations at Dooru, Shuwa and Dangerpora are completely down. But at Main Chowk, the tower is functioning,” adding: “the landlords have been given authority to down the operations themselves.”
He said some 19 mobile tower sites are depend on diesel but now they won’t be functional as no is ready to go and fill the diesel. The sites include at Badambagh and Hygam, he informed.
Even though the United Jihad Council – an amalgam of militant outfits operating in Kashmir – has outrightly condemned the attacks but police so far have failed to achieve any breakthrough.
“We have not arrested anyone so far vis-à-vis killings but we do have picked several persons for questioning,” the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sopore, Abdul Qayoom, said over phone.
The telecom showrooms, franchises, retailers are closed across Sopore as well as in Baramulla Town and there are recharge crisis. The sign boards on telecom outlets have been removed and at several places ‘showroom is closed’ was inscribed on placards.
“Around 10 to 15 lakh rupees are out in the market in Sopore and adjoining areas. We will wind up our business but what about all this money,” the Aircel employee said, adding that there are around 150 employees working with all telecommunication companies in Sopore.
Meanwhile, the army and Special Operation Group (SOG) conducted search operation in and around mobile telecommunication sites in Sopore and Baramulla, official sources said this evening.
