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NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s major grain-growing state of Punjab on Monday asked police to crack down on farmers and sympathisers vandalising telecommunication masts as they intensify their weeks-long protests against farm deregulation.
Protesters have attacked hundreds of masts of companies such as oil-to-groceries conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd that they believe have profited from the farm reforms at their expense.
Tens of thousands of farmers are camping out on highways near New Delhi demanding a repeal of the new laws they fear will lead to corporate dominance of the farm sector and erode their incomes.
The office of Punjab’s chief minister said in a statement that more than 1,500 communication masts had been damaged or their power supply cut off in the past few days.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh. (File)
With his appeal to protesting farmers to not damage telecom towers failing to yield the desired result, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Monday directed the police to take strict action against those indulging in such vandalism.
While the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), a registered body of telecom infrastructure providers, claimed that at least 1,600 towers have been vandalised in Punjab, the state government, in an official statement said that 1,561 mobile towers of the total 21,306 have been impacted with 25 having been physically damaged by agitators protesting against Centre’s farm laws.
Amarinder said he will not tolerate destruction of any private or public property and that he had been forced to toughen his stance as repeated appeals to perpetrators of such acts had been ignored.
Farmers protest: Over 1,500 telecom towers damaged by agitating farmers in Punjab, services hit
Protesting farmers have destroyed more than 1,500 telecom towers in Punjab during their agitation against the Centre s farm laws that has been going on for over a month now. This has disrupting services in some pockets, sources said.
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Bundles of Jio s fibre cable have also been burnt in Punjab. (Photo: PTI)
Protesting farmers have destroyed more than 1,500 telecom towers in Punjab during their agitation against the Centre s farm laws that has been going on for over a month now. This has disrupting services in some pockets, sources said.
Over 1,500 telecom towers damaged in Punjab hindustantimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hindustantimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
CHANDIGARH, Dec 27: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s appeal to protesting farmers to not damage telecom infrastructure seems to have failed to deter new attacks, with more than 150 signal transmitting sites being vandalised overnight, sources said on Sunday.
While firms belonging to billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani do not procure foodgrains from farmers, the narrative that new farm laws are to benefit them has made them easy targets, with protesting farmers in different places in Punjab having vandalised and damaged Reliance Jio towers, snapping connectivity.
As many as 151 towers have been damaged since yesterday, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.