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Iridium closure hits anti-militancy ops

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir received a serious setback with the closure of the Iridium satellite phone company.

After Iridium closed down its worldwide operations claiming bankruptcy, scores of satellite phones used by the state police and other security forces are non-functional.

Sources said the Jammu and Kashmir police had issued over 25 Iridium satellite phones to all top officials, including district police chiefs and those involved in anti-militancy operations.

"We had been effectively and extensively using these phones to co-ordinate anti-militancy operations in the state.

"We have achieved major successes in the past two years because of these satellite phones," he said.

Security forces in the state also relied on these Iridium phones for use in anti-insurgency operations.

The state police sources said they have to now depend on a conventional communication network that, they say, is outdated and slow.

The state police has invested huge sums of money in these phones, each of which costs over Rs 200,000.

The officer said that militants have a sophisticated communication network in the state. The state government has now approached the Centre for help in this regard, he said.

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