In a shocking incident, a tower of an Indian telecom operator in Jammu & Kashmir was found to be playing host to an unauthorized high frequency transmitter recently. This device was reportedly being used by militants for communication in north Kashmir’s Sopore town, according to a top intelligence source.
What’s even more shocking is that when it was removed from the tower by the technical staff of the concerned network provider, unidentified people thrashed employees of two mobile phone companies. This incident gives more credence to the possibility of the high frequency transmitter being used for wrong reasons.
The technical staff of a mobile company was at work refilling diesel in the power generator near a tower in Sopore on Thursday evening. That’s when the team discovered an unidentified device on the tower. They then climbed up and removed the high frequency transmitter which was planted there by militants.
The unidentified men from Jammu and Kashmir barged into a local office of the same company and thrashed the staff, while asking them to either return the device or be prepared to face the consequences. These people moreover, also went on to attack another mobile company office in the area, which points out that the device in question may not be the only unauthorized system being used by militants.
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According to an IANS report cited by The Economic Times, sources have indicated that militants usually carry low-range hand-held transmitters which are used for short-range local communication. But for long-range communication, they need high-powered long-range signal transmitting and receiving devices which need to be placed on towers so that they are high enough to work properly.
The misuse of mobile towers could allow these guerrillas to communicate across the Line of Control (LoC) and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir which is a risk to the security of India.