Cable operator stabbed

[alpeshpatelk]

MUMBAI: Ganesh Naidu, a prominent cable operator from the western suburbs, was stabbed by three assailants at 8 pm on Thursday outside a Borivli housing society where he had gone for a meeting.

Naidu, president of the Cable Operators and Distributors Association (CODA), was seriously injured in the attack, suspected to be plotted by business rivals.

Naidu is the promoter of Scod-18, a newly-launched company operated by a consortium of Mumbai’s cable TV operators to take on the ever-expanding DTH industry. The fight to provide cable TV services to millions of consumers has obviously revved up.

Naidu was slashed on his face and head with knives after he had conducted the meeting at a housing society at Jambli Gully. His associate, who tried to resist the attackers, was also injured. Sources said there was a police guard accompanying Naidu at that time, but he too could not nab the attackers.

The attack sent policemen into a tizzy and all senior policemen, including deputy commissioner Makrand Ranade were unreachable.

"Naidu has been admitted to the ICCU. We are trying to stabilise him. He has sustained severe head and facial injuries," said medical superintendent M Wadiwala of Bhagwati hospital. The Borivli police were still registering a case at the time of going to the press.

Nearly 18 cable TV operators recently came together to form their own head-end (cable TV control room) and Scod-18 was born. In the first phase of its launch, Scod 18 has focused on areas such as Borivli (W), Dahisar, Goregaon, Chembur, Vashi and Bhandup, with plans to offer services all over Mumbai.

Naidu had recently said in an interview that all their distributors and stakeholders, right down to the wiremen on the street, would be trained in an effort to be more customer-friendly.

At the national level, Scod 18 will be a part of a larger consortium of around 30 big cable operators who have come together to provide digitised programming to match the picture and sound quality of DTH. The service will be aimed at consumers in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore
and Nagpur.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumba...247870.cms