J&K CM directs police to provide security to cell operators

In the wake of a spate of attacks on telecom facilities in Kashmir, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today directed police to provide security to mobile towers besides those managing them and thwart any attempt to disrupt cellular services in the Valley.
The direction came after Sayeed held a meeting with senior civil and police officers to discuss the situation arising out of a series of attacks by militants targeting telecom facilities across Kashmir over the last few days.
The Chief Minister directed Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar to take all possible steps to thwart any attempt to disrupt cellular networks in Valley and provide security to mobile tower installations and owners, an official spokesman said here.

He said the Chief Minister had called a high-level meeting of senior civil and police officers to review the security and law and order situation in the state in the wake of the spate of attacks on mobile service providers.
In the meeting, the situation following the attacks in the Valley, in particular north and central Kashmir, was discussed, the spokesman said.
The meeting came a day after militants targeted a mobile phone tower with a grenade in a downtown area of Srinagar, in yet another incident that led to disruption in communication services in the valley. The militants have targeted telecom facilities in north Kashmir over the last 10 days.

Sayeed took a strong note of the disruption of cellular networks in various parts of the Valley as he noted that mobile services have become the lifeline as these services are availed by all sections of the society, the spokesman said.
The Chief Minister said people cannot be pushed into stone age as modern-day functioning in government, banking, tourism, education and other vital sectors, in particular, old-age pension and e-transfer of insurance claims and compensation to flood-affected victims were totally dependent on the internet connectivity, the spokesman said.