Cellular phone lovers on Tuesday here at the cantonment area attacked the office of Ufone as large number of people gathered to get free mobile phone connections.
Police baton charges the applicants and injured at least three persons, eyewitnesses said. The aspirants accused the security staff and police taking bribes of Rs 100 and Rs 200 from the people in extra for connection.
They also accused the officials at the franchise centre for awarding connections only to their friends and relatives.
The company has announced free connection for three days and Thursday was the last day but many of the aspirants turned violent as the centre refused to entertain their claims due to the expiry of the quota of connections. The dejected applicants damaged the office of the mobile company.
In this connection, Business Recorder contacted Muhammad Zakria, President of Mobile Dealers Associations, he accused the U-fone franchise dealers Asim Bokhari, Aamir Bokhari of Cantt and Haroon of University Road for massive nepotism and malpractices in the name of providing free connections.
He said that government on the occasion of the Independence Day celebrations announced provision of free U-fone connections. But, he said the unscrupulous franchise office holders used it for earning millions of rupees.
He said that the application forms were openly sold it at Rs 100 and Rs 200 respectively.
He said that no common citizen has been given the free connections and all connections received by the franchise dealers in the name of providing free connections have been distributed among their nears and dears who are openly selling it after receiving Rs 500 per connection.
He said that a number of the dealers on Bilour Plaza are openly selling these free connections.
Muhammad Zakria demanded of the Federal Minister Awais Leghari and Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to take notice of the irregularities of the franchise dealers of U-fone in Peshawar and cancelled their dealership with immediate effect.
It has worth to mention here that since the launching of the U-fone service in NWFP the franchise dealers of the service are looting the people of the province with both hands. Earlier they have earned a handsome amount in black marketing.