Gone are the days when terrorists left a digital trail through mobile phones. In the dense forests of Jammu and Kashmir, a new ghost network is buzzing – one that needs no SIM, no tower, no Wi-Fi.
It is LoRa – Long Range, Low Power. It is almost impossible to track. Security agencies have stumbled upon this alarming tech shift after back-to-back recoveries of sophisticated off-grid handsets from dead Pakistani terror commanders in Kashmir. “They have gone off the grid, literally. In a fierce encounter at Gurwatkalan, security forces eliminated Lashkar-e-Taiba’s most wanted commander, Mohammad Asif alias Hashim Musa Fauji. Clutched near his body was not a smartphone, but a rugged black device labelled LoRa Ultra. “These are not ordinary walkie-talkies. These are encrypted, mesh-based radios. Each handset acts as a tower itself.
This is terror communication 2.0,” said one of the security force officers. The biggest giveaway came on September 29 from Budgam.
No SIM card, no recharge, no location ping,” a senior security official said.
What Makes LoRa A Security Nightmare
Investigation revealed that terrorists were talking to each other and to Pakistan without ever touching the mobile network. They come pre-configured, pre-encrypted, to link directly to handlers across the border,” sources in the security establishment revealed. “It can send a message from a Dachigam ridge to a handler sitting across the LoC, with zero digital footprint on our normal tracking systems. That is what makes it lethal,” another officer involved in technical surveillance explained. During Operation Mahadev in the high-altitude forests between Dachigam and Pahalgam, where forces hunted down the Pahalgam attack module, multiple encrypted LoRa sets and SIM-less burner phones were found at the encounter site. Forensic analysis by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) has exposed a bigger conspiracy. “These devices are not locally assembled. In simple words – Pakistan is providing the intent, China the tech. On the ground, security forces are now changing the game. “The game has changed from chasing SIM cards to hunting silent radios. And we are hunting them down,” a senior security force officer informed.
Because every device relays the signal, they create their own private army network deep inside the jungle, and. Using low-power radio frequency, LoRa can transmit text messages, live GPS coordinates and emergency SOS alerts over 10-15 kilometres in forest terrain.
“We have recalibrated our spectrum scanners and jammers for LoRa frequencies in South Kashmir’s forest belts,” a senior security force officer informed.
