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| India-Pakistan |
| Army on alert as Intl operatives target strategic info in Leh |
| 2016-05-12 |
| [Daily Excelsior] In a serious development in sensitive districts of Leh having borders with both hostile neighbours including Pakistain and China, the Army has reported that some "inimical foreign intelligence operatives" have become active and were trying to extract information about Army including ORBAT (Order of Battle) plan from influential persons including Sarpanchs etc. Quoting an instance and telephone number of the person, who had received such call and the telephone number from where the call was made to gather strategic information, the Army has alerted the district administration to sensitize civil persons especially elected members and office bearers, who had some information pertaining to Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who man the borders with Pakistain and China, to remain alert and not to give any kind of information to the callers. A senior Army officer has written a detailed letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Leh intimating him about telephone call from inimical foreign intelligence operatives being received by the local people of Leh for trying to gather information about specific unit and key appointments in the area of Ladakh. Though the letter, a copy of which was in possession of the Excelsior, didn’t mention whether the inimical foreign intelligence operatives belonged to Pakistain or China, the latter is being doubted as China shared large un-demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India in Eastern Ladakh and often resorts to transgressions on the Indian side though all such issues were now being resolved in meeting between the two sides at the Border Meeting Points (BMPs). Citing one of the instances, the senior Army officer in his official letter has stated that a call was received by Durbuk Sarpanch Stanzin, when he was incidentally present in the Army area on his mobile telephone No. 9419344560 from telephone number 011-404609809. "The caller identified himself as a Colonel and was trying to extract information of ORBAT (Order of Battle) plan of Army formation from the Sarpanch," the letter said. It added that the queries made by the caller included: "whether the outstanding issue of range has been sorted out with the Army"? On being cross-examined by the Sarpanch as to where from he (the caller) got his telephone number, he said he got it from office of the District Collector, Leh. The caller wanted to know whether all Army units are present in Leh, for which the Sarpanch said: "you ask the Army". Thereafter, the call got dropped. According to sources, some other civilians also had received calls of similar nature. The callers were targeting only those persons, who had some sort of information about the Army and the ITBP especially the Panchayat members and Government officials, who generally remained aware about movement of the troops and their activities in view of sensitive nature of Leh. In the letter, the Army has pointed out to the Deputy Commissioner, Leh that there was necessity to sensitize civil appointments (elected members and office bearers) of the civil administration so that the information didn’t get leaked out accidentally. "No information regarding the Army or Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) should be divulged by anyone," the letter said. It added that each such incident (the caller seeking information about the Army from anyone) should be immediately reported to the nearest Army unit with names of the caller and his telephone number, name and telephone number of the recipient, details sought by the caller and queries raised by him. The Army has called upon the civil administration to conduct mock drills to rehearse the key appointments (like officials and others) in handling such calls. As far as the Army personnel were concerned, they were already aware in handling such calls, sources said. They were not sure as to whether the calls were handiwork of Pakistain or China as both countries shared boundary with India in Leh. Though Indian borders with Pakistain in Leh and Kargil ... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ... were completely peaceful, the Chinese Army do indulge in transgressions sometimes, though their number has gone down considerably during the past two years. The Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army of China have increased number of Border Meeting Points (BMPs) from one to two and hold regular contacts to sort out the issues, if any. |
| Posted by:Fred |