A man identified as a telecom technician was allegedly tied to a mobile tower by villagers, reportedly over prolonged 5G network disruptions, in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district, a bizarre incident in which police have arrested six people.
The arrested individuals were identified as – Rahul Patel (28), Suraj Yadav (21), Alok Patel (29), Yogendra Patel (36), Alok Yadav (31) and Sachin Patel (30), the SP said. In the purported video, a villager is heard saying the technician would not be released until senior company officials arrives and addresses the problem. They produced before a magistrate and later released on bail, police said, adding that an investigation is underway.
A video going viral on social media purportedly shows the technician, identified as Aditya Bhan Singh by news agency PTI, tied to the tower and surrounded by villagers. Aditya Bhan Singh had gone to the village regarding a mobile network issue when some residents allegedly detained him and tied him to the tower, demanding that the 5G connectivity problem be resolved, PTI quoted as saying Superintendent of Police (Fatehpur) Abhimanyu Manglik.
“Villagers claimed the area had been facing poor mobile connectivity, particularly 5G services, for nearly two years despite a private telecom tower being installed there,” the SP said. The locals complained about patchy network that frequently remained unavailable even when electricity was available, affecting calls and internet access, the SP said. The SP said villagers claimed that residents had been paying for 5G services without any significant improvement in connectivity.
The incident reportedly took place on Thursday at the Hardauli village in Bindki area of Fatehpur district. Police said an FIR was registered against unidentified villagers on Singh’s complaint on Friday and six people were subsequently arrested.
