news details |
|
|
| Relocate mobile towers from our land, terrified landlords tell telcos | | | Abdul Majid
Early Times Report
Srinagar, June 19: In the wake of recent deadly attacks on mobile communication network in Kashmir, the people on whose properties telecom towers have been erected today asked the service providers to relocate the structures forthwith.
In a public notice published in Srinagar dailies, the landlords have appealed one of the telecom companies, the Airtel, to shift its towers from their land forthwith.
"Recent attacks on Airtel mobile tower which is installed in our premises has created life threatening situation to our families. Therefore it is appealed to you to shift the tower with immediate effect. Otherwise for any untoward incident or damage whatsoever, the responsibility thereof shall not be attributed to us at all," reads the notification titled "Appeal and Intimation to Airtel Mobile tower Authorities Srinagar/Sopore."
The mobile tower landlords and others associated with the telecom business complained that they continue to face life threat as "police have failed to rebuild any sense of security."
"While militants and government are into blame game over attacks on the mobile network which claimed two lives in the month of May, the fact remains that the threat perception has gone up with four more serial killings," said a mobile tower landlord of Sopore, asking not to be identified.
He and others said they continue to get "militant threats" to close down this business or be prepared for "capital punishment". "Gunmen have been frequenting our homes to reiterate the threat calls," said another man.
The controversy over mobile communication network in Kashmir erupted in May when threat posters from an obscure group Laskhkar-e-Islam surfaced in the apple town of Sopore, asking people to shun this business. Though initially people didn't pay any heed to the threats, grenade attacks followed by two killings left the mobile communication and general life disrupted.
Subsequently, on May 31 separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani denounced the attacks as the handiwork of "Indian secret agencies." After consultation with separatist leaders like Nayeem Khan and Shabir Shah, Geelani called a joint meeting of "civil society and separatists" at his Hyderpora residence to resolve that Lashkar-e-Islam was a shadowy outfit launched by the Indian Home Ministry.
A day after Geelani's joint consultative committee condemned the attacks, there came a twist in the story: gunmen lobbed a grenade on a mobile tower in Srinagar, silencing the separatists.
As reported earlier by Early Times, investigators probing the attacks on the telecom network claim to have found signs of revolt within Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir's oldest militant group, led by its top commander, Qayoom Najar in north Kashmir.
Police said Najar, one of the most wanted militants in the region, with a recent bounty of Rs one million on his head, masterminded all the six killings and might have been acting independently.
Najar, an 'A-plus-plus' category in police records, has been an active militant for past two decades.
Police said Najar has been completely avoiding use of mobile phones. As a result, police have had very few leads about his location for many years. Earlier this week police announced the bounty on his head. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
