Use of Pakistan Mobilink SIM cards handicaps Jawans in J&K.
Despite the stiff resistance they offered to the introduction of mobile telephony in J&K, state’s counter-insurgency grid was the prime beneficiary. It helped them bust many sleepers in political parties and prevent sensational assassination. Apart from managing collateral damage in dozens of operations and getting a better inflow of information, cellphones came handy in a number of counter-insurgency operations.
Exactly after three years of mobile telephony’s brisk business, the numbers have crossed a million mark in a population of ten million. But security forces are now worried of certain advantages the cell phone is offering to the fugitive.
Reports quoting military sources from Poonch and Rajouri suggest that insurgents are using SIM cards of Pakistani mobile service provider Mobilink. They have actually found at least 15 Mobilink SIM cards from slain militant’s during operations. The Mobilink has brought its base tower stations (BTS) close to LoC with an increased height so that it services a stretch of around 20 km into Jammu and Kashmir. This has deprived Indian intelligence agencies from getting their share of intercepts as was the case when militants would use local SIM cards or the radio sets. Elsewhere, the high-profile insurgent leaders use satellite phones that may offer security agencies a direction but not the intercept, sources in the state police said.
As the security agencies were assessing the change in militant communication, they received a shock when a detained militant told them insurgents were experimenting with mobile phone bombs. Noor Illahi alias Tipu, a resident of Mendhar in Poonch was arrested during police investigations into sale of 60 BSNL SIM cards to militants last month.
It was the first case detected in April last, in which police and Army arrested three cops and sepoys each for their alleged insurgent links. In detention, Tipu said Lashkar-e-Toiba has converted a number of mobile phones into bombs that carry around a kg RDX-TNT mixture and detonates when the activated set receives a call. He did reveal to his interrogators that LeT wanted to use the first one to assassinate an NC legislator but for some reasons it did not take off. The prepaid SIM cards that militants were getting had no value for communication as they were supposed to be used for manufacturing bombs.
Interestingly, there are quite a few militant attacks across the globe in which cell phones were used. The car bomb which killed 12 people at Jakarata’s Marriott hotel in August 2003 was set off by a mobile phone. The serial blasts (only three of the ten bombs planted exploded) in Madrid train in March 2004 killing 192 people and wounding 2,050 was solved after one of the unexploded bomb a Mitsubshi mobile phone was recovered. The planter had not rang up on its SIM to activate the bomb. A similar bomb that was activated by a mobile call was reported from Bulgaria in January 2004. Even recently allied forces in Iraq said they expect cell phone bomb explosions.
J&K has not reported any such attack in which cell phone was used. The revelations have, however, left security agencies in a tizzy. Officials in state police admit that phones having dual-tone multi frequency (DTMF) technology, the most common ones, could be used a timebombs, tied to IEDs for detonation and even converted it into tiny pistols that could fire 0.22 calibre shots. A general alert stands sounded to all the security agencies especially Rajouri-Poonch where the security men are sure such bombs exist.
It was not immediately known if security agencies intend to get any equipment for screening cell phones. The latest technology was unveiled last year by an American company, the leader in neutron-based stoichiometric explosive diagnostic devices.
indiatimes.com
Despite the stiff resistance they offered to the introduction of mobile telephony in J&K, state’s counter-insurgency grid was the prime beneficiary. It helped them bust many sleepers in political parties and prevent sensational assassination. Apart from managing collateral damage in dozens of operations and getting a better inflow of information, cellphones came handy in a number of counter-insurgency operations.
Exactly after three years of mobile telephony’s brisk business, the numbers have crossed a million mark in a population of ten million. But security forces are now worried of certain advantages the cell phone is offering to the fugitive.
Reports quoting military sources from Poonch and Rajouri suggest that insurgents are using SIM cards of Pakistani mobile service provider Mobilink. They have actually found at least 15 Mobilink SIM cards from slain militant’s during operations. The Mobilink has brought its base tower stations (BTS) close to LoC with an increased height so that it services a stretch of around 20 km into Jammu and Kashmir. This has deprived Indian intelligence agencies from getting their share of intercepts as was the case when militants would use local SIM cards or the radio sets. Elsewhere, the high-profile insurgent leaders use satellite phones that may offer security agencies a direction but not the intercept, sources in the state police said.
As the security agencies were assessing the change in militant communication, they received a shock when a detained militant told them insurgents were experimenting with mobile phone bombs. Noor Illahi alias Tipu, a resident of Mendhar in Poonch was arrested during police investigations into sale of 60 BSNL SIM cards to militants last month.
It was the first case detected in April last, in which police and Army arrested three cops and sepoys each for their alleged insurgent links. In detention, Tipu said Lashkar-e-Toiba has converted a number of mobile phones into bombs that carry around a kg RDX-TNT mixture and detonates when the activated set receives a call. He did reveal to his interrogators that LeT wanted to use the first one to assassinate an NC legislator but for some reasons it did not take off. The prepaid SIM cards that militants were getting had no value for communication as they were supposed to be used for manufacturing bombs.
Interestingly, there are quite a few militant attacks across the globe in which cell phones were used. The car bomb which killed 12 people at Jakarata’s Marriott hotel in August 2003 was set off by a mobile phone. The serial blasts (only three of the ten bombs planted exploded) in Madrid train in March 2004 killing 192 people and wounding 2,050 was solved after one of the unexploded bomb a Mitsubshi mobile phone was recovered. The planter had not rang up on its SIM to activate the bomb. A similar bomb that was activated by a mobile call was reported from Bulgaria in January 2004. Even recently allied forces in Iraq said they expect cell phone bomb explosions.
J&K has not reported any such attack in which cell phone was used. The revelations have, however, left security agencies in a tizzy. Officials in state police admit that phones having dual-tone multi frequency (DTMF) technology, the most common ones, could be used a timebombs, tied to IEDs for detonation and even converted it into tiny pistols that could fire 0.22 calibre shots. A general alert stands sounded to all the security agencies especially Rajouri-Poonch where the security men are sure such bombs exist.
It was not immediately known if security agencies intend to get any equipment for screening cell phones. The latest technology was unveiled last year by an American company, the leader in neutron-based stoichiometric explosive diagnostic devices.
indiatimes.com