Voting for Indian Idol 3 went awry after a large number of SMSes sent from Darjeeling through cellular service provider Reliance were not delivered. Darjeeling has been rooting for local boy Prashant Tamang, who had made it to the Piano round of the contest.
Tamang, a constable with the Kolkata Police, had the entire police force in Kolkata and West Bengal voting for him. Sentiments ran high in Darjeeling and residents sent bulk SMSes to ensure the local boy was among the top 10 finalists.
But, to their dismay, a large number of Reliance subscribers found that their SMSes hadn’t been transmitted. That triggered a rage in the hills.
Agitated subscribers damaged a Reliance outlet and burnt hoardings and kiosks on Saturday. They took out a rally protesting against the inefficiency of cellular service providers in delivering their SMSes in support of Prashant.
Although complaints were against all cellular service providers, Reliance bore the brunt as its subscriber base is the largest in the area.
For four hours, the mob went on a rampage, targeting Reliance retail outlets. Even police were unable to rein in the agitators.
Earlier too, subscribers had complained about their SMSes not being delivered and warned of protests if services were not restored. Subscribers were hard-pinched too, as each SMS for an Indian Idol vote cost Rs 3.
When contacted, Sony Television, which produces the show, was hopeful that the problem would be sorted out soon.
“We have heard about the huge uproar in Darjeeling. Basically, the area does not have the capacity to carry the huge load of SMSes. So, it’s either getting blocked or the delivery is taking a long time. We have spoken to the operators of that area to rectify it as early as possible. We have requested them to install enough capacity so that people can vote for their favourite contestant,” said Kaushal Modi, head, licensing and telephony, with Sony.
Source: IANS
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