Jio, Airtel & Vodafone Idea suspends voice calls, internet amid protest over CAA 2019 in Delhi

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Major Telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have informed their customers that as per a government directive, they both have suspended voice calls, SMS and internet data services in several parts of Delhi.

It is to be noted that the move comes following a government directive to do so keeping in mind protests related to the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) all over India, including the capital city Delhi.

"We're complying with instructions received from govt. authorities on suspending Voice, SMS and data in certain areas in Delhi," Airtel's customer care said on social media platform Twitter. "Once the suspension orders are lifted, our services will be fully up and running."

Similarly, Vodafone, too, said that there has been a planned outage according to a government directive. "We would like to inform you that there is a planned outage scheduled as per government directive. This will be rectified as soon we receive the next directive from the authority," Vodafone said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police's special cell said order to all telecom operators asking them to halt voice, SMS and internet services in some areas in view of the prevailing law and order situation.

The police have also issued prohibitory orders in several places and are checking all vehicles coming from Gurgaon to Delhi, leading to a heavy traffic jam on the stretch. Scores of protesters who gathered at the Red Fort have been detained by the police and taken away in buses while the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has closed entry and exit gates of several stations to dissuade protesters from reaching the venue.

The Left parties had planned a protest march at Mandi House after which the police imposed prohibitory orders and detained Left leaders D Raja, Sitaram Yechury, Nilotpal Basu, Brinda Karat and others during their anti-Citizenship Act protest for defying prohibitory orders.

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