Pakistan officials posing as Indian officers to gather intel, says government
Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said spillover frequency of Pakistani mobile network into India has been observed in few locations along the Indo-Pak border area of Rajasthan.
Posing as senior defence and district administration officers, people in Pakistani intelligence agencies are contacting Indian officials to gather information on troop deployment along the Indo-Pak border, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said spillover frequency of Pakistani mobile network into India has been observed in few locations along the Indo-Pak border areas in Barmer, Jaisalmer and Sriganganagar districts of Rajasthan.
“Pakistani Intelligence agencies used to call up officials of post offices, railways, state revenue (patwaris), schools, security personnel and public representatives (Sarpanch), etc, by impersonating themselves as senior defence and other district administration officers to collect information of their interest,” he said in a written reply.
He said the agencies of the neighbouring country, including the ISI, continue their efforts to gather intelligence regarding deployment and movement of armed forces along the Indo-Pak border in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat.
The minister said officials having access to sensitive information are regularly sensitised not to inadvertently pass them on to anyone without verifying their identity.
“Moreover, the matter of spillover signals across the border has been taken up by the government at bilateral and multilateral forums,” he said.
No instance of use of Pakistani Internet services in the bordering areas to access WhatsApp, Facebook etc. has come to notice so far, Rijiju said.