Army will soon be able to crack encrypted handsets used by terrorists in J&K: Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai

Srinagar, Oct 3 (PTI) Top Army officer in Kashmir valley Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai on Thursday said the Army would soon be “able to crack” encrypted handsets used by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters here, Lt Gen Ghai acknowledged that the ‘Ultra’ communication was giving secrecy to terror groups but he assured that the work is in progress.

“Ultra communication has various layers of encryption and while presently, it is affording them the secrecy that they want.

“But I assure you that work is happening in that regard and soon we will be able to crack that encryption and I am hoping that will further dent the terrorist ecosystem network,” Lt Gen Ghai said in his last press conference as commander of valley-based XV Corps. He will soon take over as Director General of Military Operations.

To a question about weaponisation of mobile phones used in Israel-Lebanon conflict, he said, “Every time a new method is employed by any military force across the world, we always take note of it to draw our own lessons, so we can incorporate what is relevant to us and prepare our army and armed forces accordingly.”

“What we are seeing unfold in the Middle East is obviously a new trend, and the manner in which it is unfolding is quite unique. Therefore, we will certainly analyze it, put it into perspective, and come to conclusions about what is relevant and how it could affect us,” he added.

The Ultra sets were recovered from some of the encounters in the Kashmir valley.

These specialised handsets, exclusively customised by Chinese companies for the Pakistan army, were seized after a gunfight in the intervening night of July 17-18 last year in the Sindarah top area of Surankote in Jammu region’s Poonch district and on April 26 this year after an encounter at the Check Mohalla Nowpora area of Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

The ‘Ultra’ handsets, which have also been found in the south of the Pir Panjal region, combine cell-phone capabilities with specialised radio equipment that does not rely on traditional mobile technologies like Global System for Mobile or Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

The device operates on radio waves for message transmission and reception, with each ‘Ultra’ set linked to a control station located across the border, officials said and added that the two ‘Ultra’ sets cannot reach out to each other.

They said Chinese satellites are used to carry these messages that are compressed to bytes from the handset to the master server in Pakistan for its onward transmission.

This is yet another help being extended by China to its key ally Pakistan, the officials said.