Airtel Services Off in Manipur, After Mafia's Ban

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

Imphal, Apr 11 : Airtel services in Manipur were suspended from Saturday night leaving over three lakh subscribers in the State in the lurch.

A statement by the All Manipur Airtel Workers Union said this was due to a ban order by an underground organisation on the service provider till a settlement was reached.

On Friday night, an Airtel tower was torched at Langol. Several equipment were destroyed and Airtel services were down from Sunday morning.

Some outlawed outfits have been targeting mobile service providers.

At least two employees have been shot dead in such incidents.

Police have said that it was not possible to provide security to all service providers since the militants targeted watchmen at the mobile towers in the State.

There is a scramble for SIM cards of the BSNL as this service has not been affected so far.