Cellphone towers shut in Indian-controlled Kashmir's town as attacks continue

The mobile phone towers in Sopore town of Indian-controlled Kashmir were closed in wake of continued attacks on landlords who have rented their space for installation of these towers, official said Thursday.

Police said gunmen Wednesday night fired upon a mobile tower landlord, Imtiyaz Ahmad Sofi in Pattan area of Baramulla, about 27 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian- controlled Kashmir.

Sofi has rented his premises for installation of mobile phone tower.

"Last night militants barged inside the house of Sofi and shot him from point-blank range," He was critically wounded and immediately removed to Bone and Joints hospital in Srinagar," a police official said.

This was the second attack in last 24 hours and fourth since Saturday on people associated with cellphone companies.

The impasse has resulted in communication breakdown in the town and outskirts. Telecom vendors and their franchise offices too have shut the showrooms in Sopore in wake of deadly attacks.

On Tuesday a man was killed in Sopore village for having rented land to cellphone company. An employee was killed and two others wounded after gunmen attacked franchise office of BSNL in the town on Monday.

Prior to that two grenades were thrown at a tower.

Police blames militant groups for attacks and killings.

A senior police official Javed Gilani told News Delhi based news channel NDTV 24x7 that they have seized the communication system that militants had fitted on cellphone towers.

"It started from Sopore and now it has spread to adjacent localities," Geelani said. "Militants are pressurizing these cellphone companies to hand them the equipment back believing they are the one's who had seized it."

The attacks on civilians associated telecom has evoked widespread condemnation from rights bodies, political parties and militant groups including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), and region's indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

Militant groups describe the attacks as "handiwork of Indian agencies."

The hardline faction of Hurriyat (freedom) Conference headed by Syed Ali Geelani termed the attack on telecom companies as " terrorist" act.

A lesser known militant group Lashkar-e-Islam almost a week ago put up posters in Sopore warning phone companies to end their operations and directing landlords to dismantle cell phone towers erected on their property, locals said.

Reports said militants had fitted some devices atop mobile phone towers for their communication, which went missing.

Militants fear the devices had been handed over to police by employees of cellular phone companies.

A guerrilla war is going on between militants opposing New Delhi's rule and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989. Endi