J&K : Terrorists Are Now Using Virtual SIM Cards To Contact Their Leaders In Pakistan
New Delhi : In Jammu and Kashmir, digital SIM cards or virtual SIM cards are now used by terrorist groups in the valley to contact Pakistani terrorists leaders. Information about the use of this new technology was revealed in 2019, when the US was requested to provide details of the ‘digital sim’ used by the Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber in the Pulwama terror attack. 40 CRPF personnel were martyred in this terrorist attack.
According to officials, a detailed investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other security agencies, however, indicated that more than 40 digital SIM cards were used for the Pulwama terror attack alone and that more such digital SIMs exist in the Valley. In this technique, a telephone number is created on the computer and the consumer downloads an app of the service provider on his smartphone.
This number is connected to social networking sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram or Twitter. To start this service, the verification code is generated by these networking sites and is obtained on smart phones.
Officials said that the country code or ‘Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number’ (MSISDN) is first associated with the number used. He said that apart from the telecom companies of US, Canada, UK, Israel, the numbers of Puerto Rico and a Caribbean island controlled by the US are still available.
Officials said that every mobile phone device is being sent for detailed forensic investigation, so that it can be ascertained whether they have ever been used for digital sim. One officer said, ‘Technology has its own good and bad aspects in the fight against terrorism, the security forces not only have to update themselves over time but one step ahead of that to stop those who are planning to misuse them have to think.
The risk of using fake identities in the purchase of digital SIM cards is also very high. During the investigation of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, it was found that CallFonex was paid US $ 229 through Western Union money transfer to activate the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) used during the attacks. This amount was transferred through the receipt number 8364307716-0. The money was claimed to have been sent by Javed Iqbal of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to ‘Madina Trading’ located in Brescia, Italy.
