SPOOKS STILL SPEAK

The world of spies today is full of technology, but human intelligence continues to play its crucial part

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

IN THE UNUSUALLY cold August of 2019, after the Union government repealed Article 370, there was a communication blackout in Kashmir and suddenly all ‘chatter’ died down. Chatter here being the intelligence term used to describe the volume of communication between terrorists or spies, monitored by agencies.

Intelligence reports claimed more than 200 terrorists were still hiding in the valley, but hardly any could be engaged as tech-driven intelligence was missing.

In the absence of phone records, the internet, encrypted chats and Google locations, counter-terror commandos went into a huddle. Security forces, who had their boots on the ground for decades, were reminded of their core competency—human intelligence. The voice of a counter-terror force commander boomed in a sparsely lit room, “Let us go back to the drawing board. Where are your assets?”

It took a month for the security forces to revive their assets, meet old friends, visit different locations, start tracing patterns and put their ears to the ground to pick up chatter. Soon enough, Cargo—the code name for the base of Jammu and Kashmir Police’s elite anti-terrorism unit—tasted success because of its relationship with the locals. “A sizeable section of the officers joining the anti-terror special operations group (in Cargo) and other units outside Srinagar belong to the terror-affected districts—Shopian, Pulwama, Rajouri, Baramulla and Kulgam—from where intelligence flows naturally into their ears,” said Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police R.R. Swain, who is known in Pakistan’s ISI circles as a tough nut. “The lay of the land gives them the first movers’ advantage, the pulse of the people allows them the entry and the eye of the spy makes them successful.”