Kashmir mobile tower land owners to suspend operations till June 10

The mobile phone towers owner association in Kashmir on Tuesday decided to keep transmitting towers off till June 10 after separatist guerrillas attacked mobile vendors in Sopore town and adjoining areas, forcing them to shut down outlets of different companies.

"We have decided to close mobile phone towers till June 10 and we will not operate before this date," said a spokesman of Kashmir BSNL Tower Landlord Welfare Organization.

"We want to give time to the government to take steps for our safety. We will restart service after we are sure of our safety," he added.

The attacks, owned to by a lesser-known guerrilla outfit Lashkar-e-Islam, has claimed two lives in north Kashmir.

After Monday's attack in Srinagar in which one civilian was injured when a rifle grenade was fired at a mobile phone tower, cell phone services in parts of Srinagar have been adversely affected.

Last month police had recovered a hi-tech communication device atop a Sopore mobile tower, which was reportedly used by guerrillas to improve their communication.

The guerrilla outfit subsequently issued threats to service providers to windup their operations in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, as a security measure, the army has decided to intensify patrolling around mobile phone towers in rural areas.