DRDO probes Tirupur sat phone signals

The satellite phone signals were traced from a village near Kunnathur and in Kangeyam locality in the district. The INS Parundu, an Indian Naval Air Station located near Uchipuli in Ramanathapuram district, picked up the signals and has informed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to conduct a probe.

A team of officials from the DRDO is camping at Kunnathur and the surrounding areas to zero in on those using satellite phones illegally. Police have also stepped up vigil in the district. Use of satellite phones is banned in India under Section 4 of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885.

Satellite phones are banned for use by common public as it interferes with the signals that are picked up at the army stations and also by intelligence agencies. Security agencies also could not track the conversation made through satellite phones as it is not accessible to any sort of tapping.

Meanwhile, the police have begun intensive vehicle checks in check-posts across Tamil Nadu-Kerala state border in Coimbatore, The Nilgiri and Erode districts. All vehicle entering the state is screened thoroughly by armed police posted in these check-posts. The increased vigil comes after a special sub-inspector on duty at a check-post in Kanniyakumari district was gunned down by two terrorists.

Also, the police have been posted in the houses of Hindu outfit leaders in Coimbatore district as a precautionary measure.