In recent times, there has been a rise in the number of telecommunication towers along the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), allegedly with the intention of assisting terrorists and their associates in carrying out infiltration activities, officials said.
Officials, following an examination of infiltration attempts and recent terrorist attacks, particularly in the southern area of the Pir Panjal range in the Jammu region, have indicated that terror groups are employing highly encrypted YSMS services. This technology combines smartphones and radio sets to facilitate covert communication purposes.
Utilizing this technology, a handler from a terror outfit in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) establishes communication with both the infiltrating group and its reception party in the Jammu region via a telecom network utilized across the Line of Control (LoC). This strategy is implemented to evade detection by the Indian Army or the Border Security Force (BSF), which are responsible for guarding the borders with Pakistan.
The project for boosting telecom signals has been completely handed over to the Special Communication Organization (SCO) led by Pakistani army officer Maj Gen Umar Ahmad Shah, believed to be formerly working with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
The deliberate placement of telecom towers near the LoC and the international border, primarily intended to assist terrorists and their accomplices in infiltration activities, constitutes a violation of Article 45 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) constitution. The ITU is a United Nations agency responsible for coordinating international telecommunications.
This rouge telecom infrastructure supports infiltrating terrorists and their contacts in the Jammu and the Kashmir regions. The deployment of CDMA technology along the LoC has been orchestrated with the intention of complicating monitoring efforts. This technology enables the transmission of multiple signals on a single channel, thereby posing challenges in regulating illicit communications.
Despite the extensive presence of the Special Communication Organization (SCO) in PoK, including in Gilgit and Baltistan, the advantages of telecom towers are minimal in the Kashmir Valley due to its rugged terrain. However, their signals reach into the plains of Jammu, with some even reaching sensitive areas like the Kot Balwal jail.
