Srinagar- General officer Commanding (GoC) of army’s Srinagar based 15 Corps Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai Thursday said the Army would soon be “able to crack” encrypted handsets used by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to reporters here, Lt Gen Ghai acknowledged that the ‘Ultra’ communication was giving secrecy to terror groups but he assured that the work is in progress.
“Ultra communication has various layers of encryption and while presently, it is affording them the secrecy that they want.
“But I assure you that work is happening in that regard and soon we will be able to crack that encryption and I am hoping that will further dent the terrorist ecosystem network,” Lt Gen Ghai said in his last press conference as commander of valley-based XV Corps. He will soon take over as Director General of Military Operations.
To a question about weaponization of mobile phones used in Israel-Lebanon conflict, he said, “Every time a new method is employed by any military force across the world, we always take note of it to draw our own lessons, so we can incorporate what is relevant to us and prepare our army and armed forces accordingly.”
He added that the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir are closely monitoring the situation in West Asia to ensure there is no adverse impact on the security scenario in the Union territory, he said.
“Regarding the ongoing global conflicts, such as those in the Middle East, and their potential impact, we have observed some minor effects. There have been some protests even within the valley. Right now, we have no indication that these could escalate into a more concerning situation,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Army’s strategic Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, told reporters.
He, however, said these conflicts are becoming increasingly intense as the time goes on.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure that none of them have an adverse impact on the security situation in our region,” Lt Gen Ghai added.
The Ultra sets were recovered from some of the encounters in the Kashmir valley.
These specialised handsets, exclusively customised by Chinese companies for the Pakistan army, were seized after a gunfight in the intervening night of July 17-18 last year in the Sindarah top area of Surankote in Jammu region’s Poonch district and on April 26 this year after an encounter at the Check Mohalla Nowpora area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
The ‘Ultra’ handsets, which have also been found in the south of the Pir Panjal region, combine cell-phone capabilities with specialised radio equipment that does not rely on traditional mobile technologies like Global System for Mobile or Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
The device operates on radio waves for message transmission and reception, with each ‘Ultra’ set linked to a control station located across the border, officials said and added that the two ‘Ultra’ sets cannot reach out to each other.
They said Chinese satellites are used to carry these messages that are compressed to bytes from the handset to the master server in Pakistan for its onward transmission.
This is yet another help being extended by China to its key ally Pakistan, the officials said.
‘Terrorist Numbers Reduced To 80’
GoC Rajiv Ghai said that the security situation in Kashmir has shown a significant improvement over the past few years. The biggest challenge for the security agencies is to keep the situation intact as it is today. He also said that terrorism in Kashmir was in the last stage as only 80 terrorists were active at present.
Lt Gen Ghai said that the situation is considerably good in the region. “Terrorism is being fuelled from across the border and that’s very much clear,” he said.
Lt Gen Ghai is heading for a new posting and he will be succeeded by Lt General Prashant Shrivastava on October 15.
Replying to a query as to what was the biggest challenge in Kashmir, the army officer said that Kashmir has seen a good year so far like last year. “We need a few more good years to make peace a permanent feature here. I believe maintaining this peaceful atmosphere is the biggest challenge for the security forces,” the GoC 15 Corps said.
Lt Gen Ghai said that there hasn’t been any active recruitment of terrorists this year. “The numbers were down to a dozen last year and this year it is next to nil,” the GoC said.
He said as far as the terrorist-initiated incidents in Kashmir, they are between far and few. “Some incidents were reported where soft targets were made by even an untrained person using a pistol,” the army officer said.
On the total number of active terrorists at present, the GoC said: “There are only 80 terrorists active in the region at present which is less than previous years,” he said.
To a query whether any troop cut was possible at this juncture, the GoC said, “We are in a consolidation phase and no dilution of counter insurgency and counter terrorism grid is recommended. Both the grids need to be maintained. I definitely won’t advocate any dilution to these grids at this stage,” the GoC said.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, the GoC said that during the past a year-and-a-half, numerous attempts counter infiltration steps were taken while simultaneously prosecuting a very robust and successful counter terrorist campaign within Kashmir. “While doing this, we have been very conscious of our responsibility and nation building. So we have maintained our connection with the Awam (people of Kashmir,” the army officer said.
He said that the region is seeing a new beginning as numerous significant events are taking place besides development. “This is because of the efforts put in by (Chinar corps) 15 Corps, police, CAPF, police and numerous other security agencies,” the GoC said.
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