Bombile

Mobile Phones Gone Ape

‘Bombile’ is the latest phrase terrorising Assam with reports of mobile phones suddenly exploding, causing the user to lose conscious.

The mysterious phenomenon has prompted Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to order a scientific probe to unravel the bizarre phenomenon. An estimated 30 cases have been reported so far with more than 20 people admitted to various hospitals in Assam within a period of one week. The victims’ mobile handsets had exploded soon after receiving a call.

At least 10 such cases were brought to the notice of the police - although no cases were registered as the officials were perplexed, not knowing what to do.

According to witnesses and victims, the explosions took place soon after receiving calls from numbers that appeared in red on the handset screens.

“I got a phone call from an unknown number and I noticed on my handset that the numbers were highlighted in red colour. Soon after I received the call, there was a loud sound and I was left unconscious,” said Mujib Ali, the driver of a doctor in Guwahati.

Mobile service providers are confused and have no scientific explanation to these bizarre cases.

“We have got numerous queries from users asking us to explain the reason, but we are not sure. We have asked for expert help from our head office for an internal probe into the matter,” said an official of Reliance Telecom Ltd requesting not to be named.

“The interesting thing is that some of the handsets that have burst are from genuine brands like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola. Initially, it was presumed the cases were witnessed in cheap Chinese make handsets, but now even that theory was proved wrong,” a police official said.