Mangaluru (Karnataka): An intelligence report from in Dakshina Kannada and certain coastal areas of Karnataka shows rampant use of satellite phones, causing widespread panic among law enforcement authorities.
According to reports, the state police have launched an investigation based on the findings of the report. The report states that a large number of unknown satellite phone users have cropped up in Belthangady, a remote village in Dakshina Kannada.
The Union Home Ministry had banned the use of satellite phones without the permission of the respective district administrations.
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Authorities believe that such phones are permitted in gulf countries and ex-pats from Dakshina Kannada are bringing the phones from these nations. According to the sources, satellite phones are being used in the district at least once a month.
Dakshina Kannada SP Lakshmi Prasad informed ETV Bharat that he is not aware of this. "I don't have any information regarding inquiry by intelligence police also in this regard," he said.
"Intelligence does not inform us about such inquiry if carried out. If they arrest any person, they bring it to the knowledge of local police and take their cooperation," he said.
Earlier, 28-year-old Abdul Rauf, a resident of Govindoor at Belthangady was surprised when he was recently labelled a ‘terror suspect’ by a section of the media, which alleged that he was making calls through a satellite phone to Pakistan and as a result was being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
