Punjab farmers protesting against Central agri laws shut power supply to Jio towers

Farmers protesting against the three farm laws in Punjab's Mansa have shut the power supply to several Reliance Jio towers here, disrupting the telecom giant's services in parts of the state.

One of the protesters, Avatar Singh said that the supply will not be restored until "black" laws are repealed.

"We have stopped power supply of Jio towers. We will continue to boycott Jio and Reliance until the black laws against farmers are revoked. We will not let anybody to run it. Everyone is supporting it. Modi government has brought these laws for the benefit of corporates," Singh told .

Another protester Manpreet Singh said: "We are opposing Reliance and Jio. Until farm laws are repealed, power supply to these towers will not be restored."

Farmers are protesting on different borders of Delhi for nearly a month against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Earlier, Reliance Jio has written to the Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI) seeking strict action against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for "unethical practices" and "unscrupulous violations" and to stop campaigns under which "false propaganda is being spread across the country to get some additional MNP port-ins" by "capitalising on the ongoing farmer protest in the northern parts of the country".

( With inputs from ANI )