Cops rush to village on Indo-Pak border after satellite phone signals traced

Kutch: Police teams were rushed to a village in Kutch district bordering Pakistan after satellite phone signals were traced there by security agencies, police said on Tuesday.

However, nothing suspicious was found in the search undertaken by two special teams of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Kutch police, they said.

"We received a message from state intelligence officials that satellite phone signals were traced to a village in a notified area of Kutch district bordering Pakistan on Sunday night. We asked the SOG to investigate and two teams were rushed to the spot yesterday. But nothing suspicious was found," said Border Range DIG AK Jadeja.

Signals were traced to Siyot village in the Lakhpat taluka of Kutch district, which falls under the notified zone – or areas adjoining the Indo-Pakistan border with restrictions on the movement of outsiders.

Police were asked to scan the area based on the coordinates provided by the security agencies.

The sparsely-populated village where the signals were traced is situated some 50-60km away from the border and is under constant monitoring by security agencies.

Senior police officials said while satellite phone signals are not unusual in these areas -- they sometimes are sent out by aeroplanes flying overhead or from ships docked at nearby Kandla port -- the matter is being taken seriously given security alerts issued by the Intelligence Bureau regarding entry of terrorists from Pakistan via the Gujarat border.

The only way to trace any satellite phone is by inspecting a particular area and physically locating it, officials said.