Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Reliance office in Gangtok ransacked

Statesman News Service
GANGTOK, June 11: Having failed to vote for the Indian Idol contestant Prashant Tamang due to the alleged congestion in the mobile network, locals ransacked the Reliance office here today.
The residents of the town alleged that congestion in the mobile network of the Reliance and BSNL, two major cellular service providers in the state, has made it difficult for them to vote for Prashant.
Trouble broke out after a Reliance official allegedly misbehaved with one Ms Freza Singh when she called up the company’s customer care centre in Siliguri yesterday to lodge a complaint regarding poor network. Locals went berserk when Ms Singh brought the matter to their notice today. They visited the Reliance office here and demanded a written apology from the Reliance officials. Mr Nikunj Bihari, manager of the Reliance’s Sikkim branch, sought three hours’ time from the agitators to take a decision.
After three hours passed and Mr Bihari failed to submit a written apology, the locals ransacked the office of Reliance.
The agitators included members of Sikkim Unemployed Youth Association (SUYA), All Sikkim Students’ Union (ASSU), Arithang United Development Society (AUDS) and Students’ Representative Council of Tadong College.
When the situation turned violent, police rushed to the spot and dispersed the agitators.
A few of those involved in ransacking the Reliance office were taken to the Sadar Police Station along with the Reliance manager, Mr Nikunj Bihari, for an amicable solution to the problem.
Mr Bihari told the agitators that it was a “mistake” on the part of the customer care centre officials in Siliguri.
Later in the evening, the Reliance officials issued a letter to the agitators. The letter read: “We have spoken to Ms Freza Singh to sort out the dispute. She has understood our position. We would further say that such things would never be repeated in future.”
Mr Abhijit Ghosh, Reliance’s circle head of West Bengal told The Statesman over telephone from Kolkata that the incident was unfortunate. “The customer care office in Siliguri is manned by the agency people. We have spoken to the person who received Ms Singh’s call. He has denied misbehaving with Ms Singh. The dispute was perhaps the result of a misunderstanding.”
The agitators later visited the office of the BSNL and urged the officials there to take initiative to end the networking problem.

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