Freedom 251 website crashes after six lakh hits per second, leaving buyers in the lurchNew Delhi, Feb 19(AZINS) A day after the launch of the cheapest smartphone, Freedom 251, its official website crashed minutes after customers logged in to book the phone, the Noida-based company Ringing Bells confirmed.

Ringing Bells said in a message on its website, "Dear friends, we are very grateful for your enormous response and your kind patronage and would submit that, as of now we receive approximately six lakh hits per second, as a result of which, due to your kind overwhelming response servers are over loaded. We humbly submit that we are therefore taking a pause and upgrading the service and will revert within or before 24 hours. Once again our respectful thanks and gratitude for your support and patience. We look forward your return as soon as we are back online well within 24 hours."

The company had announced that customers can purchase the smartphone from its website starting 6 am on February 18, till 8 pm on Sunday, February 21, 2016. The Rs 251 smartphone was officially launched by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Murli Manohar Joshi at Nehru Park here on Wednesday evening.

Ringing Bells president Ashok Chadha while speaking to the media post the launch, highlighted the potential use of the phone to empower citizens in rural and semi-urban areas. The smartphone comes with pre-installed apps like Swachh Bharat, Women Safety, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, among others.