Srinagar: A highly encrypted Chinese-made ‘Ultrasett’ telecommunications device used by Pakistani troops has been seized in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, after it fell into the hands of terror groups.
This has also raised concerns about undetected infiltration across the Line of Control and the possibility of terrorists hiding out on the outskirts of cities and villages, they said.
Officials familiar with the matter said the seizure of mobile phones, mostly used by foreign terrorists from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, indicated that terror groups were receiving training, arms and ammunition from Pakistani state agencies.
These specialized mobile phones, specially customized by a Chinese company for the Pakistan Army, were seized following a shootout in Shindara Top area of Surankot in Poonch district of Jammu region on the intervening night of July 17-18 last year and after a shootout in Check Mohalla Nowpora area of Sopore in Baramulla district of north Kashmir on April 26 this year.
Four foreign terrorists were killed in a shootout at Surankot while two were shot dead in Sopore.
“Ultracet” devices, also found in the southern Pir Panjal region, combine mobile phone capabilities with specialized radio equipment that does not rely on traditional mobile technologies such as Global System for Mobile (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
The devices use radio waves to send and receive messages and each “Ultrasett” is linked to a control station located across the border, the official said, adding that two “Ultrasetts” cannot communicate with each other.
Chinese satellites are being used to carry these messages, compressed into bytes, from mobile phones to a master server in Pakistan for further transmission, they said.
This is further support China is providing to its key ally Pakistan, the official said.
Beijing has been actively strengthening the defensive capabilities of Pakistan’s military along the LoC for quite some time now.
This assistance includes building steelhead bunkers, providing unmanned aerial vehicles and combat aircraft, installing encrypted communications towers, and laying underground fiber optic cables.
Additionally, Chinese radar systems such as the “JY” and “HGR” series have been deployed to improve target detection capabilities, while advanced weapons such as the SH-15 truck-mounted howitzer have been spotted at various locations along the LoC.
These efforts are seen as strengthening China’s strategic interests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), especially in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
No senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officials were confirmed to be at the forward base, but intercepted communications suggest Chinese troops and engineers are involved in infrastructure development along the Line of Control, including building bunkers and tunnels in the Leepa Valley on Pakistan’s Caribbean coast.
These actions are believed to help establish a direct route between Pakistan’s port of Gwadar and China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region via the Chinese-occupied Karakoram Highway.
Published June 23, 2024 09:54 IST
