Press "Enter" to skip to content

Why did security agencies take a U-Turn after claims of finding satellite phone at Jammu encounter site

Soon after the Sunjwan encounter was over on Friday, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone Mukesh Singh had stated that besides a large haul of arms and ammunition, police had also found some satellite phones.

But a day after on Saturday, police officials started to rule out any finding of satellite phone from the two terrorists who were killed in Jalallabad area of Sunjuwan in Jammu.

In the below video, ADGP Mukesh Singh is clearly seen telling the media that satellite phones were recovered from the encounter site:

It is an established fact that the satellite phones with terrorists have become common in Kashmir and Pakistan’s ISI was sending these terrorists armed with weapons and these phones which can be operated from anywhere due to their linking with satellites.

It was also reported in some media outlets that intelligence agencies were able to track the terrorists because of their satellite phones. Reports further suggested that fifteen signatures of Iridium satellite phones, used by the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan, and Wi-Fi-enabled thermal imagery devices that help a terrorist to escape security cordons especially during night have been found in the militancy-hit Kashmir valley recently.

Bodies like the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and the Defence Intelligence Agencies (DIA) have been tasked with finding and giving out real-time information about the presence of these satellite phones in the Kashmir valley.

The J&K police had stated that the presence of terrorists at Sunjwan was due to an intelligence input. It is believed that satellite phones may have helped the agencies and this is the reason why after accepting presence of satellite phone the police later denied it.