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ShareBhuj: The state's longest border with Pakistan in Kutch region is totally porous when it comes to cellphone networks. Cellphones in Kutch area near the border receive signals of Pakistani cellphone operators.
This fact accidentally came to light when a group of visitors in civilian areas close to prohibited area near India Bridge, also known as Kunvar bet near Karo Dungar, received signals from Pakistani cellphone operators.
"When I switched on my cellphone, I was surprised to see signals from renowned cellphone operators of Pakistan. We could not talk to our families as there was no signal from the local network providers,'' said a sports coach requesting anonymity.
Though the group was shocked, this fact is very much known to all Indian security and intelligence agencies operating in the area. "We have taken up the matter with the telecom department at a high level," said Wabang Jamir, district superintendent of police.
Experts in border security say this can be dangerous for the country's security."Smuggling of SIM cards of Pakistani cellphone companies is not difficult task. Anyone can easily make calls to Pakistan using a Pak SIM card without being detected by any Indian security agencies," an expert said.
In fact, a high-level official from an intelligence agencies said that they too had heard of Pakistani SIM cards being used in the border villages in Kutch, but yet they had not caught any one red-handed despite best efforts.
Ashish Thakar, general manager of Kutch telecom district, said that it was international offence if any country beams signals two and half km of either side of the international border. "This case needs utmost attention and should be taken at the diplomatic level. Our department will do the needful if we are approached by security agencie," said Thakar.
However, sources in the security agencies said that dotting the entire 513-km land border and another 100-km maritime border further extending from there through the numerous treacherous creeks into the Arabian sea in the west with the jammers was not easy task.
"Putting jammers all along the very long border is a costly affair. You can get full results if you totally jam the telecom networks in the border areas which would badly affect our telecommunication,'' a knowledgeable source in a intelligence agency said.
The sources said that the issue could be settled effectively diplomatically with the Indian government pressuring the Pakistan government to force the Pakistani cellphone companies to restrict their signals in their Pakistani areas as required by international laws on beaming of signals.
The sources said this had been done in India where no signals were found in the bordering civilian villages, much far away from the actual border lines. The sources said it was for this reason that the jawans posted on Kutch and Kashmir border cannot use their mobile phones. "To help such jawans, BSNL in April last started satellite-based mobile phone service at three BOPs,'' they said.
