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Police jittery over jammed airwaves
President Bush?s armada of protection comes with a highly secret communication suite, installed at New Delhi's Hotel Maurya Sheraton.
Apart from Airforce One, 800 secret service agents and fighter jets, President Bush’s armada of protection comes with a highly secret communication suite, installed at Hotel Maurya Sheraton.
The hi-tech jammers even forced Delhi Police to switch to a different frequency. On Wednesday, the policemen found their cell phones jammed.
Even the hotel’s Internet system was affected.
The suite enables hawk-eyed secret service agents to virtually scan and control the airwaves in a 15-km radius of the hotel. All radio-frequency devices, even wi-fi laptops and mobile calls, will be monitored in that area.
“There is a lot of secrecy about the whole set-up,” said a senior Delhi police officer. Even hotel staff have little idea where it has been installed.
This surveillance will be over and above the jammers to block signals in the air. Sources have said that the jammers will operate in a 1-km radius.
However, such security has become a cause of worry for the Delhi Police.
“The jammers blocked our own wireless network on Tuesday during the rehearsal at Purana Quila. We had to switch to another frequency,” a police officer said.
Apparently, the US security agencies did not inform their Indian counterparts about the frequency that will be used. However, officials said things have been sorted out.
The jammers may are likely to make television remotes and even mobile phones useless in a 3-km radius. Residents of nearby localities, like Kaka Nagar and Bapa Nagar, will be affected.
