1,500 Jio mobile towers damaged in Punjab as farmers vent anger against Reliance
Farmers' groups and their kin have allegedly vandalised over 1,500 Reliance Jio mobile towers in Punjab. It has led to communication outage in several parts of the state. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has now asked police to take strict action against those who damage mobile towers.
Farmers and their kin have allegedly cut the power supply to a little over 1,500 Reliance Jio mobile towers amid the ongoing protest against the Centre’s farm laws. It has led to widespread communication outage in parts of the state.
It has come to light that 200 mobile towers are being damaged on a daily basis in the state. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had earlier appealed to the protesting farmers to not indulge in vandalism.
On Monday, he even asked police to take strict action against those who damage mobile towers in the state. According to the Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Section 25 clear imprisonment of 3 years if you damage telecom equipment.
Singh, who had earlier expressed solidarity with the farmers protesting against the Centre’s farm laws, said he would not allow anarchy and destruction of private property in the state. He also pointed out that the state government has not meddled with the peaceful protests and added that inconvenience to people will not be tolerated.
Amarinder Singh also told farmers that causing mobile outages or any other form of communication breakdown will hamper students, especially those who are preparing for their board exams. He also said that it will affect banking services, which are largely dependent on online transactions.
In the last three days, the number of mobile towers damaged has doubled. On December 25, the number of towers damaged was 700. And within three days, the number has increased to 1,504.
There are a total of 9,000 towers in the state of Punjab.
Some bundles of Jio's fibre cable were burnt in the city of Jalandhar, while videos of Jio employees being threatened and forced to flee have been widely circulated on social media.
The vandalism of mobile towers has impacted telecom services across the state, especially Reliance Jio.
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