New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) has raised concerns over suspicious radio signals detected along the India-Bangladesh border, primarily in the districts of south Bengal. These signals in Urdu and Arabic were first intercepted by ham radio operators in December. They have reported about it to the central government.
According to a PTI report, these coded transmissions have been recorded over the past few months in districts including Basirhat, Bongaon, and the Sundarbans. The signals are typically detected between 1am and 3am, and when attempts are made to trace them, the transmissions abruptly cease.
Signals in Bengali, Urdu, and Arabic
“These suspicious radio signals have been picked up between 1am and 3am. The transmissions are in coded Bengali (with a Bangladeshi accent), Urdu, and Arabic. Sometimes, there are signals in another language that we couldn’t identify. Whenever we asked those communicating to identify themselves, they went silent,” Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club, told PTI.
Alarmed by these transmissions, the operators informed the Ministry of Communications. The matter was subsequently forwarded to the International Monitoring Station (Radio) in Kolkata for tracking.
“Initially, we did not attach much importance to it. But then similar signals were detected from Basirhat, Bongaon, and later from South 24 Parganas district. Even during the Gangasagar Mela in mid-January, several Ham radio users reported hearing these suspicious signals,” Biswas further said.
Terrorist groups are known to use ham radio
Security officials fear that the signals could be linked to illicit activities, as terrorist groups are known to use ham radio for communication to evade tracking.
BSF have also flagged increased border activities by Bangladesh’s military and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), including disruptions to fencing work and unauthorised bunker construction.
The discovery of these signals comes amid rising tensions in Bangladesh and growing anti-India rhetoric following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August last year. Hasina was forced to leave Bangladesh. She has been living in India, ever since.
