New Delhi: The Chinese mobile handsets that flood the Indian market may be a cause of cheer for consumers but definitely not for the Indian security agencies. The Intelligence officials are so upset that the issue is likely to be the key discussion topic at the two-day meet on terrorism starting next September 15, 2008.
The meet will be chaired by the Intelligence Bureau Chief P C Haldar and will be attended by top cops of the country, to discuss ways and means to check terror funding, besides devising institutional responses to the growing technological sophistication of terrorist outfits.
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The concern about Chinese handsets stems from the fact that these mobile phones do not have any IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number on them. This makes tracing them a difficult task if terror groups choose to use them for communication and execution of their nefarious designs. The agencies fear that terrorist groups might extensively use such handsets to evade detection.
The issue also figured at a high-level meeting of the Union Home Ministry, which was chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta on August 8 in the wake of back-to-back serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad in July. The directors-general of police (DGPs) and the chief secretaries of States and Union Territories also expressed concern over the sale of Chinese handsets and the security implications related to it.
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The handsets are issued in bulk by Chinese mobile phone companies in lots of 100, 1,000 and 5,000 with a common IMEI number, which makes it difficult for security agencies to track actual calls made from any of these phones. The common IMEI number for a bulk of the handsets entering the market makes it difficult for security and intelligence agencies to trace the individual mobile phone from which the calls are made.
The IMEI is a unique 17-or 15-digit code used to identify an individual mobile station to a GSM or any other network. The code is important as it uniquely identifies a specific mobile phone being used on a mobile network. The IMEI is a useful tool in preventing a stolen handset from accessing a network.
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Mobile phone owners whose sets are stolen, can contact their service provider and ask it to disable a phone using the IMEI number. With an IMEI number, the phone can be blocked from the network quickly and easily.
“If a call is made from a mobile phone handset issued in a lot of 5,000, it will make the task of tracing the caller very difficult,” said a senior intelligence officer. The problem is compounded by the fact that most of cellular phone sets are sold by unregistered sellers, he added.
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The Union Home Ministry has in the past blocked the foray of a major Chinese telecom equipment supplier, Huawei, into the ports sector owing to security implications.
The National Technical Research Organisation suspects that the controversial Chinese equipment company is tracking the telephones and e-mail addresses of senior officials of the armed forces, top bureaucrats and industry captains.
Following the NTRO inputs, a joint intelligence committee meeting last year had labeled the company as a security threat, a senior Union Home Ministry official said.
Gurgaon-based Huawei officials confirmed that intelligence sleuths had been visiting the company's research and development centre in Bangalore and its order book from the public sector telecom majors had been shrinking due the development.
However, the company officials formally maintained that the company was a legal corporate and such “allegations” were unfounded.
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