Pak-based handlers use encrypted satellite communications to coordinate terror attacks and infiltration in JK: officials

The technology will connect a terrorist group operator in PoK with the infiltrating group and its host party in the Jammu region through a telecom network used across the LoC, officials said.

Jammu: The number of telecommunication towers along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been increased in recent times with the aim of aiding terrorists and their allies in infiltration activities, officials said here.

Terror groups have been using highly encrypted YSMS services, a technology that merges smartphones and radio sets for covert communication purposes, officials said after a probe into the pattern of infiltration bids and recent terror attacks, especially in southern Pir Panjal. range in the Jammu region.

This technology connects a terror group's handler in PoK to the infiltrating group and its host party in the Jammu region through a telecom network used across the LoC. This is done to avoid detection by the army or the BSF, which guard the borders with Pakistan.

The telecom signal boosting project has been fully handed over to the Special Communication Organization (SCO) headed by Pakistani army officer Major General Umar Ahmad Shah, who is believed to have previously worked with Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

The strategic placement of telecommunication towers near the LoC and the international border, which are generally used to assist terrorists and their associates in infiltration activities, violates Article 45 of the Constitution of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a body under the United Nations. .

Article 45 of the ITU Constitution requires all 193 member states to take steps necessary to prevent the transmission or dissemination of identification signals, “and to cooperate in locating and identifying stations under their jurisdiction transmitting such signals.”

The officials said the Radio Communications Bureau (BR) under the ITU has reiterated that all stations are “prohibited from making unnecessary broadcasts, or the transmission of unnecessary signals, or the transmission of false or misleading signals, or the transmission of signals without identification. ”.

The issue is being discussed at the ministerial level and discussed at the relevant international forum, they said.

The new telecommunications towers run on Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology and the encryption was done by a Chinese company, mainly to cater to YSMS activities, the officials said.

This rouge telecom infrastructure supports infiltrating terrorists and their contacts in the Jammu and Kashmir regions.

The deployment of CDMA technology along the LoC has been done with the aim of complicating monitoring efforts as the technology allows multiple signals on a single transmission channel, which poses challenges in monitoring illegal communications.

Previous cases of use of such technology in 2019 and 2020 were thwarted by security forces by breaking the encryption. The officials said the current attempt by terror groups aided by Pakistani state actors would meet a similar fate.

Despite the SCO's towering presence in PoK, including Gilgit and Baltistan, telecom towers offer minimal benefits in the Kashmir Valley due to the elevated terrain. But their signals extend into the Jammu plains, with traces even reaching sensitive places like the Kot Balwal jail area.

Conventional measures such as jammers and managed access systems have failed to deter mobile phone use, leading to the development of advanced detection capabilities aimed at locating and neutralizing active phones within certain areas.

The officials said new technology is likely to be tested nationwide, especially in prisons, by security agencies to effectively combat security threats.

The smuggling of cellphones into prisons poses a significant threat to public safety, allowing criminals to orchestrate terror activities from prison, officials said.

This comes after several security agencies said telecom signals from PoK have entered Indian areas, affecting regions from Baramulla and Kupwara in Kashmir to Jammu, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch districts in Jammu division.

Of particular importance is the communication between terrorists on Indian soil and their proxies in Pakistan, facilitated by various technologies such as LoRa, YSMS, Baidu and Thuraya Satellite Communication.

The use of LoRa technology, known for its long-distance capabilities, is used by terrorist groups and their proxies to ensure that communications between terrorists and Overground Workers (OGW) remain undetected.

(Only the headline was reworked by India.com staff. The copy is from an agency feed)