Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday claimed to have busted an international call racket allegedly involved in spying on Army units in the country.
“We arrested 11 people on Tuesday from Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi and New Delhi for operating international call racket by running parallel exchanges,” inspector general (IG) of ATS Asim Arun said, adding the action was taken on information by Jammu Kashmir military intelligence.
An FIR in this regard has been registered at Gomti Nagar police station, he said, adding a large number of SIM cards, mobile phones and laptops used in the clandestine operations had been recovered.
Sources said the gang used to gather information regarding vital army installations, troop movements and deployments.
The officials said the accused made calls to various army stations posing as government officials and that spying was done using mobile numbers with Direct Inward Dialling Network to route calls.
Arun said the spying agents were skipping the legal international phone gateways to make such calls (for spying).
“It will now make the work of terrorists or any spies difficult. The government and mobile companies will also be able to avoid losses to the tune of crores of rupees due to these dubious exchanges,” he added.
The IG explained that such exchanges provide facility to those sitting abroad to make calls through internet. These calls are then converted to voice calls through sim box and connected to receivers in India. However, the receivers could only see Indian numbers on their telephone screens.
{{/usCountry}}The IG explained that such exchanges provide facility to those sitting abroad to make calls through internet. These calls are then converted to voice calls through sim box and connected to receivers in India. However, the receivers could only see Indian numbers on their telephone screens.
{{/usCountry}}The officer said action will be intensified against such people with the help of the army and TERM (Telecom Enforcement resource and monitoring).