Reliance JioPhone explodes while charging in J&K, company says it is a case of intentional sabotage

Companies like Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple in the past have had to deal with cases of exploding smartphones. But if a new report is true, it looks like Reliance Jio may also have a cause to worry as a new report has emerged claiming that a JioPhone unit exploded in Kashmir.

As per a media report, a JioPhone unit exploded with the back of the handset completely burnt and melted. While the report doesn't mention the name of the user to whom the JioPhone belonged to, it does note some information provided by LYF distributor who inspected the device. The report says that despite the burnt back, the battery of the unit was intact, and so was the front of the device.

The report adds that if this was a case of faulty battery, it would have exploded too. The Lyf distributor told PhoneRadar that the battery of the unit was still functional. However, an image of the charging of the charging cable's burnt end suggests that the cause of the explosion could be due to a fault in the charger. The report also adds that the incident could be a deliberate attempt.

A spokesperson from Reliance Retail told media in a statement that, "JioPhones are designed and manufactured with global standards, and each phone goes through stringent quality control process. The said incident has been reported to us. Our initial investigation suggests that this is a case of intentional sabotage. The damage to the device seems to have been intentionally caused. The incident, as well as its timing, has been designed by vested interests to malign the brand. We will take appropriate action based on further investigations."

As the company says, the incident is a case of "intentional sabotage" and there seems to be nothing wrong with the unit itself. The company adds that the timing of the incident suggests that someone is trying to "malign the brand". To recall, Reliance Jio had halted bookings of the JioPhone and said the pre-bookings would restart after Diwali. The company also promised, after many delays, that 6 million JioPhone units would be delivered by Diwali.

This is not the first time a Reliance Jio phone has faced such an issue. Late last year, Jio's Lyf phone and Water 1 phone were found in flames following the global Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle. Just this week, there was another report of a Galaxy J7 catching on fire in mid-air a Jet Airways flight.

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