Security establishment on Tuesday sounded an alert after students of army schools received calls from Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs), seeking information about their parents besides asking them to join WhatsApp groups.
“Since Monday, students have been receiving calls and WhatsApp messages from Pakistani intelligence operatives from two numbers which are 8617321715, 9622262167,” sources in the security establishment said.
Sharing further details, a senior official said the callers pose as school teachers and are seeking information besides sending one-time passwords (OTP) to join the groups.
“These suspected PIOs are calling and sending messages by initially giving reference of someone known and then asking the students to join other WhatsApp groups (allegedly new class groups) by sharing OTP,” he said.
On calls, the PIOs are also asking about the details about the student’s parents including their occupation, school routine and timings along with other questions pertaining to uniforms and teachers’ names, the official said.
School authorities asked to sensitise students
{{/usCountry}}School authorities asked to sensitise students
{{/usCountry}}Schools and colleges have since been requested to sensitise teachers and students and if required dissolve all groups and make new ones.
He cautioned that the messages can come from other numbers also and modus- operandi can be changed.
However, a search on the Truecaller app showed that the two numbers, 8617321715 and 9622262167, registered in the names of “Jagwinder Sir Chitkara University” and “Manju Kumari” respectively.
While another official said the calls and messages were being sent to army schools in various parts of the country, sources confided that one such incident was also reported from Jammu.
He also informed that the administration of the army school has sensitised teachers, parents and students about the suspicious calls being received.
Jammu region alone has over a dozen army schools and army public schools.