UP ATS busts international call racket spying on Army units

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorist Squad ( ATS) today claimed to have busted an international call racket allegedly involved in spying on Army units in the country.

"We arrested 11 persons yesterday from Lucknow, Sitapur, Hardoi and New Delhi for operating international call racket by running parallel exchanges," IG ATS Asim Arun said, adding the action was taken on information by Jammu Kashmir Military intelligence that Army units were getting calls for spying from these exchanges.

An FIR in this regard has been registered in Gomti Nagar police station, he said, adding a large number of SIM cards, mobile phones and laptops used in the clandestine operations have been recovered.

Sources said the gang would 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) and with the busting of the racket, it would now be difficult for them to operate.

"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 said.

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.

The officer said action would be intensified against such persons with the help of Army and TERM (Telecom Enforcement resource and monitoring).