In Kerala, the cases related to parallel telephone exchanges were handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after being cleverly delayed for four years. In the cases registered since 2019, the terrorism link has been evident since then. It is alleged that the cases were not originally handed over to the NIA to destroy the evidence.
On the 16th of this month, the communist government handed over 20 cases registered in 14 police stations to the NIA. Seven cases in Malappuram district alone and five cases registered in Kozhikode Kasaba have been handed over to the NIA.
Reportedly, most calls from Kerala through parallel telephone exchanges were to Bangladesh and Pakistan. There are hints of spying and terrorism behind the phone calls. Illegal calls of parallel exchanges from Kerala are made mainly by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who have migrated to the terrorist safe havens in Kerala.
Two cases each in Malappuram cyber crime and Perinthalmanna and cases in Thirurangadi, Kolathur and Manjeri belong to Malappuram. Each case registered in Ernakulam Central, Thrikakkara, Koratti, Palakkad North, Koppam, Kannur Muzhakunnu, and Kasaragod Ambalathara has now been handed over. A majority of cases and seizures were from the Malabar region.
Since 2019, the CPM government has refused to hand over the cases to the NIA for four years. The oldest case on the list was registered at Malappuram Manjeri station limits in 2019. Later, in 2020, an exchange was found in the same way in Muzhukunnu in Kannur Rural.
The Kerala Police did not investigate or pursue any more suspects other than the apprehended local operators. As a result, the number of illegal anti-national telephone exchanges spread in the Malabar region. Authorities uncovered ten parallel exchanges in 2021 and six in 2022.
By 2022, such exchanges were found to be controlled from abroad. Sophisticated equipment was seized from Kolathur (Kozhikode), Pulamanthole, Kattuppara (Malappuram), and Amayur (Palakkad). The confiscated devices could make calls using up to 512 SIM cards simultaneously.
Kerala Police is not equipped to investigate foreign connections, yet the authorities have not handed the case to national agencies. The possibility of further investigation has decreased with the passage of years.
The Intelligence Bureau confirmed that such phone calls through parallel telephone exchanges were mainly used for terrorist and espionage activities. The NIA is expected to start a comprehensive investigation as soon as the Ministry of Home Affairs notifies them. Is it too little, too late?
The investigation will also focus on those who made calls to Pakistan. Those working for Pakistan’s spy agency ISI are also involved in Islamic State (IS) sleeper cells in Kerala. The NIA had earlier collected information on illegal immigrants living in the country under the pretext of being Bengalis (from West Bengal).
These illegals were in touch with their relatives and friends in Bangladesh through social media groups and made phone calls using parallel telephone exchanges. They used to call home simultaneously by sharing hot spots on SIMs and mobile phones procured from Bharat. The NIA probe on terror links will be based on reports from the local police and the Cyber Crime Wing.
It is reported that the Pakistani spy organization is providing the necessary facilities to run parallel telephone exchanges in Bharat using Chinese equipment. Parallel telephone exchanges bypass international interconnect carriers and clandestinely bypass Internet calls, making tracking and recovering such calls all the more difficult.
When someone from Bharat calls an international number from a local number, the call reaches the foreign number through an international interconnect carrier’s gateway. These international calls are made possible through special circuits enabled by Time-division multiplexing (TDM) technology.
Simply put, the function of such parallel exchanges is to bypass the international interconnect carrier and connect the call through the internet. The primary device is the ‘SIM Box’, which can insert several SIMs. Any operator’s SIM can be inserted in this SIM box.
It is also possible to connect to the internet. Users of such unauthorized exchange should first call any SIM in the SIM box. Once the call connects there, you will be asked to dial the overseas number. With this, your call will be routed through the internet with the help of the internet and delivered to the gateway of the overseas telecom operator. In this way, you can call abroad like a standard local call.
IP (Internet Protocol) and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls are not illegal in Bharat. However, converting a VoIP call into a regular GSM call is prohibited. Therefore, such exchange activity is unlawful.
Another major problem is the organization of fake SIM cards for use in such exchanges. It is reported that the numbers of the deceased are being used this way. When a parallel telephone exchange was raided in Kozhikode, around 100 SIMs were found. It was reported that half of these were fake.
The equipment required to run one is contraband, also sold on Chinese online sites. Most of the equipment seized in raids was Chinese. It is possible to perform this illegal activity even without technological know-how.
The biggest challenge such exchanges pose is to the country’s security. Such exchanges provide a safe way to contact abroad for those trying to create problems domestically in the country. Often, this system can fool surveillance systems cleverly by making international calls ‘local’. The NIA is investigating such exchanges.
In August 2022, it was found that Rs 46 crore had come from different parts of the country and abroad into the accounts of Kozhikode Chalappuram Puthanpeediyakal P Shabir and Niaz, a native of Malappuram Kuttaserry, the accused in the parallel telephone exchange case. Shabir’s brother Moideenkoya and his son were also charged.
Shabir, the main accused in the Kozhikode parallel telephone exchange case, where treasonous transactions were suspected, was arrested. The accused, who had absconded for a year, was caught by the police in Wayanad.
The police had received information that Shabir used to call himself Shamir to visit a resort built under a benami name in Wayanad. A crime branch team was staying near the resort disguised for days.
Shabir reached the resort in Pozhuthana village, Wayanad, in a Haryana registration car, and the police intercepted the vehicle and arrested him. Other kingpins were also detained, but it is unclear whether they are still in custody.
Autocratic Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan handles the Home Department. It has been alleged that the Home Department has purposefully delayed taking further action in the cases.
When the first such illegal exchanges were found, there were demands to hand over the cases to the NIA, but the government refused. Such developments have strengthened the accusation that the leftist government is taking a favourable stance towards terrorist organizations.
