MUMBAI: Star India is suspecting sabotage of its signals from AsiaSat satellite. The company said on Monday that its transponder on AsiaSat 3S was interrupted by an illegal signal on 20 June at 8:40 pm, causing a break in the broadcast of Star's Indian channels including Star Plus, Star Gold and Star News.

"Somebody stopped the signals. The illegal transmission affected the broadcast of our Indian channels several times from 8.40 pm to 10.52 pm," a Star spokesperson said.

Following the interruption, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited has increased its tracking capability to protect Star's channels from future loss of service. The company will be able to identify and locate the source of interference to its satellites in a matter of seconds and it will take appropriate action against any offending transmitter under the law, Star said in a release.

"If deliberate, the interruption seriously violated international telecommunication treaties, contravened international regulations, and was in breach of the normal conduct of satellite operations," the release added.