Navy intercepts satphone calls to Bangladesh

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: A few days after the Union government sounded an Independence Day high terror alert, security establishments intercepted a series of sensitive conversations over a satellite phone near Alibaug off the western coast.

According to sources, the countries where the international calls were being made included Bangladesh—the headquarters of banned terrorist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami (HuJI). Some intelligence reports suggest that Lashkar-e-Taiba is financing HuJI to wage a war against India. HuJI’s name had cropped up during investigations into several terror cases across the country. Sources refused to disclose the conversation’s contents, but said that the satellite phone has been under surveillance since the first week of July.

It is learnt that Navy intelligence was monitoring some other “suspicious’’ calls along the western coast when it stumbled upon the satellite phone conversations. Coast guard authorities were also informed about them.

“Last week, the investigation was taken over by the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The user of this phone is an Indian national. The operation is on and hence we cannot disclose much,’’ said a source.

Satellite phones are priced between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh. A satellite phone was extensively used by terrorists during the 26/11 attacks to communicate with their Pakbased handlers. It is used by individuals is illegal and if someone is caught using it, a case can be registered by the police under the Telegraph Act. In several countries such as Holland and Singapore, it is allowed with government’s permission. A satellite phone can be used to contact mobile phones and landlines anywhere in the world.

The Times of India, August 13, 2009