Maoists Destroy BSNL, RCom Facilities In Chhattisgarh

In two separate attacks, Maoist guerillas destroyed a tower of Reliance Communications (R-Com) and a telecom exchange of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) in the Kanker district of Chattisgarh.
The incident took place on Saturday night but the ‘officials’ could get the information only yesterday night, as the whole communication network crocked up in the region, after the attack.
Over 100 heavily-armed Maoists attacked BSNL communications at Kapsi, a sleepy village situated in the thickly forested pocket in Kanker region, about 300 km-south from Raipur.
In the same locality, they set on fire a Reliance (Communications) facility in another attack.
Kapsi is located in the region, which is an area of Maoist activity. Later the Maoists later set the exchange of state-run telecom major BSNL and tower of Reliance Communications on fire.
Officials also said that extra police forces were rushed to the Kapsi area, some 300 km south from Raipur, to launch an offensive against the Maoists to no avail.
Before slipping into the forest, the Maoists stayed in the village for over 3 hours with the people. While leaving the village, the Maoists cut two trees, which fell on the 33 KV main power supply line of the electricity board.
However, both the telecom companies refused to reveal the details of the loss and said an assessment was on. They were not even in a position to state when the service would be restored.
Sources also said that over 1,000 mobile subscribers and 200 telephone subscribers were affected by the attack, particularly the reactionary police and army who use mobiles to trace Maoist revolutionaries.