Intelligence & National Security Discussion

[Roperia]

NDTV reports that the LeT members nabbed in Delhi are from Sopore in Kashmir who were working under the local LeT commander. They are reported to be technical students in their 20s. This reinforces my belief that sensing its growing failure to infiltrate let alone evict IA out from the valley, LeT has expanded its operational area to include mainland India. They seem to have started recruiting radicalized/aggrieved Indian Muslims to carry out mass fatality bomb blasts in crowded bazaars across India (as we've seen in Mumbai and Delhi recently).

Manmohan's honeymoon with Pakistan might prove to be very costly for ordinary Indians who will be caught in the crossfire of an Indian PM hell bent on normalizing relations with Pakistan and TSPA's proxies trying to propagate pan-Islamism in India.

Conspiracy to defame me: Geelani on Lashkar terrorist visa controversy

From the above video, it seems that the guys behind the captured LeT terrorists (who seem to have raided the place) are from CRPF?

[shyamd]

Expect to hear news about how Gen VKS used milli intel for his own purposes and something about links with arms dealers.

[Austin]

The IE report mentioned of Mobile Scanners was used from vehical placed close to where AKA stays and then there is another report of bugging inside MOD office.

Could possibly be routine for MI to gather Intel on MOD Babus or something related to threat perception ? Cant just rely on IB to do the task.

[shyamd]

That is correct, there are 2 stories to this. noise coming from AKA residence line, bugging of AKA office. AKA Residence - MTNL sorted out apparently. Office bugging issue - released to press and then Denied with 2 camps in the media one saying its true, other saying its not.

Now they are going all guns blazing at VKS - saying he misused MI and he is linked to arms dealers (or something along these lines).

Very weird,.

[shyamd]

The tapping issue is propagated by Signals intelligence General, MI Officer and a retired general - these guys are said to hve made the anonymous complaint against Gen VK Singh. They are being called disgruntled officers.

Not even IB is looking at the issue I am told. As per CVC guidelines, anon complainst go to the dustbin.

[shyamd]

DNA special: Chidambaram’s baby NCTC gets some RAW competition

Published: Tuesday, Feb 28, 2012, 10:15 IST
By Saikat Datta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA

At a time when Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is struggling to push through the national counter-terrorism centre (NCTC), India’s external spy agency RAW has pitched for the appointment of a neutral national intelligence coordinator (NIC).

RAW chief SK Tripathi sent across this detailed communiqué last week to a committee set up by the prime minister (PM) in July last year to do a comprehensive review of India’s security strategy.

The 14-member panel, headed by former Indian ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra, is scheduled to submit its report to the PM in a few months. In the past few months, all intelligence chiefs and defence services chiefs made comprehensive presentations to the taskforce, airing their problems with the current security architecture.

Tripathi also made several presentations to the committee, but decided to put them in a comprehensive paper that he sent across to Chandra last week. Among his many proposals, the key takeaway is the appointment of an overall intelligence czar on the lines of the director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the US.Incidentally, the NCTC in the US was created before 9/11 and it failed to prevent terrorists from crashing their planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. As a result, following recommendations of the 9/11 commission, the office of the DNI was set up by the US government to ensure that turf wars were rooted out and better coordination achieved between various arms of the American intelligence community.

There has been a palpable unhappiness with the idea of Chidambaram’s NCTC in various intelligence agencies after the cabinet committee on security decided to make it a part of the internal spy agency, the Intelligence Bureau (IB).l Turn to p11

Many feel that the NCTC, as part of the IB, will not be able to achieve much and will be just another agency among a plethora of bodies already doing similar work. Moreover, they feel that since the NCTC will be part of the IB, it will not reduce the turf wars that have plagued the Indian intelligence community.

The RAW chief has also made a strong pitch for placing the agency under a dedicated minister in-charge of a new ministry such as homeland security. He feels that unlike the IB, which has the Union home minister to report to, RAW has been left rudderless since it is a “wing” of the cabinet secretariat and does not have a dedicated political head. This, he feels creates major administrative issues as well as proves detrimental to the interests of the organisation. While the PM is technically in-charge of the cabinet secretariat, RAW has to deal with many heads despite its chief being accorded the status of a secretary to the government of India.

Worried at the falling standards of human intelligence gathering operations, Tripathi has also argued about the need to create a core group within RAW that will have “dedicated intelligence operators”. This means, this group will concentrate purely on gathering human intelligence through specialised operations - a lacunae that RAW seems to have felt acutely in the last decade or so.

DNA Exclusive: CAG nails NTRO; NSA sits on report

Published: Monday, Mar 5, 2012, 9:15 IST
By Saikat Datta | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA

An aggressive audit of the country’s premier technical spying agency, the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), by the CAG — the first time an intelligence agency has been audited — has revealed large-scale irregularities, corruption and several instances of official position/s being misused.

The report is unlikely to be made public or even placed before Parliament, but is bound to raise questions on National Security Adviser (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon’s role as he has not taken any action on the report for months. The NTRO does not come under any ministry and it reports directly to the NSA.

India is one of the few democracies where Parliament has no supervisory control over intelligence agencies. The report comes at a time when there is tremendous churning within the intelligence community with calls for greater accountability and transparency.

The CAG summarised its findings while replying to former NTRO joint secretary VK Mittal’s query under RTI seeking details of the audit. It says the CAG has “noticed cases of appointment of ineligible candidates” confirming fears that the agency has been flouting rules while recruiting senior people.

A source told DNA that this has resulted in people being recruited based on their “connections” rather than merit. In fact, IPS officer Jaijeet Singh (Maharashtra cadre) who joined the NTRO last year is probing such cases. So far, five people — either of the rank of joint secretary or director — are under the scanner. The “illegal recruits” include Commander Manoj Modi from the navy, LtCol Sachin Burman, part of the cyber-espionage team, Pramod Prasad, Ruchichandra Srivastava and HS Dhillon.

The CAG found that contractual appointments of senior officers were not transparent. Financial rules were flouted while recruiting Brigadier Anil Malhotra on contract. Malhotra dealt with counter-intelligence and internal security.

The report also talks of several senior officers “misusing” their positions. Chief among them is MS Vijaraghavan, currently the second-in-command in the NTRO.

The fact that he used a prime property in New Delhi’s posh Hauz Khas enclave as his personal residence — rent bills ran into lakhs — left the organisation embarrassed. The CAG recorded several instances of “misuse of official power”, many being committed by Vijayraghavan. Despite all this, he still holds a sensitive post because the government has chosen to ignore the charges against him.

PV Kumar, the present NTRO chairman, too investigated the mess and sent his report to the NSA, Menon. But he has been sitting on both reports for months. And the picture is unlikely to change because neither report would be tabled in Parliament. The reason: the reports are confidential.

The CAG said in an earlier reply, November 28, 2011, under RTI that neither the NTRO nor the NSA has sent any “action-taken” report. DNA has learnt that the CAG has found at least 143 instances of illegal recruitments. It has also found “non-compliance of rules” in procurement of systems and equipment. This means kickbacks could have been part of the several purchases made by NTRO.

The NTRO was set up after the Kargil war to coordinate all technical intelligence efforts. But the organisation has failed to take off because of nepotism and corruption. Even Union home minister P Chidamabaram refused to include the agency in his daily intelligence briefings. The home ministry recently denied it the status of a notified agency that could legally intercept phones and emails of the people of the country.

Link

New generation wives

The wives of the heads of IB and RAW have undertaken major renovations in their government bungalows, including breaking down drawing room walls to make one large reception space, landscaping gardens and laying down wooden flooring. There also seems some degree of one upmanship in hosting garden parties. The best quality caterers were hired, presumably at government expense. The IPS Women’s Welfare Association is feeling the effect of the rivalries between various police organisations in the Capital. The IB chief’s wife is automatically nominated as president of the body. A proposal to make the CBI chief’s wife the vice-president fizzled out and the CBI contingent of wives has kept out of the Association. The wife of the head of the National Investigation Agency has stepped down as secretary. With the IB wives insisting on a dominant role, the membership of the Association has dwindled in recent times.

Punctual PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sets an example for punctuality by turning up on the dot for Cabinet meetings. Even before he arrives, some of the ministers are already in the Cabinet room. Veerappa Moily, S M Krishna and Mallikarjun Kharge are early birds. Although all three are from Karnataka, they do not seem to have much conversation with one another. A K Antony and P Chidambaram are also invariably present on time.

[Aditya G]

...

RAW has been left rudderless since it is a “wing” of the cabinet secretariat and does not have a dedicated political head. .....

...

<Facepalm> RAW has the PM as its boss and they are complaining of lack of a political head! Indicates the state of affairs under MMS.

[ramana]

Thats nominal boss. Not one who thinks they are his/her own.

[VinodTK]

Security breach at South Block: Pen drive, laptop missing

NEW DELHI: Two months after hard disks containing sensitive information and computers went missing from North Block, thieves have struck once again at the Central Secretariat, this time at the South Block. Police said a laptop and a USB flash drive containing sensitive information belonging to Amit Narang, deputy secretary, ministry of external affairs (MEA), have gone missing.

Not only that, the thieves also tried to break into the office of Sipra Ghosh, deputy secretary (Eurasia division) of the MEA. The incident, which has occurred at one of the country's most secured places, has left the cops fumbling for answers as to how the items were taken out after bypassing security even though it requires a proper gate pass for any type of goods to go out from the high security premises.

On Saturday, Narang lodged a complaint at the Parliament Street police station about the two items missing from his office, room number 235-I. The cops also got to know that break-in attempts were made at the rooms 235-G and 235-H. An FIR has been lodged under Section 380 of IPC.

Sources said the role of insiders, including the staff members, was being probed to ascertain the identity of the accused.

"We have formed a team to investigate the incidents. We are going to examine the CCTV footage and gather clues. The incident has yet again raised questions about security at the Parliament. We will soon get some leads and crack the case at the earliest," the source added.

Earlier, an assistant at the ministry of home affairs, identified as Ishwar Mahto, had filed a complaint about two computers going missing from the MHA's North Block office.

[sum]

A costly intelligence asset of no use now

The use of Chinese processors in an encryption system for ground mobile satellite communication terminals for use by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) was considered a breach of security for which the project was scrapped on the directions of the National Security Council (NSC).

Following strong objections by the NSC, the “Sampark” network was shot down and is not being used by the NTRO, leading to the loss of Rs 30 crore (including capital and recurring expenditure) that was spent on purchasing the asset.

The wasteful expenditure incurred as a result of non-use of the system has come under the scanner of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which is learnt to have classified it as among several other “suspect” NTRO acquisitions and procurements between 2007 and 2010. The CAG undertook a massive special audit of the NTRO after the head of the communications intelligence organisation blew with the whistle on several questionable procurements and other irregularities.

The audit findings have been submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope.

In late 2009, the NSC was apprised by the Scientific Analysis Group (SAG) within the Defence Research and Development Organisation that several ground mobile SATCOM terminals, which the NTRO had procured from the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for positioning in various parts of the country for communication “during operations”, contained Chinese processors.

The sensitive issue came to the notice of the NSC when the Indian Air Force, which procured the same encryption system from BEL the same year, sought to have it cleared by the SAG. On further examination, it was found by SAG scientists that the encryption system contained Chinese processors which, it was suspected, could potentially compromise all special operations within the country.

An encryption system is an essential feature in SATCOM terminals as they help in protecting transmission of and securing sensitive communication which could otherwise be intercepted. The NTRO procured “bulk encryption systems” in early 2009 as part of a project that was called “Sampark”.

According to sources in the country’s security establishment, senior NTRO officials procured the systems, worth Rs 30 crore, without taking due clearance from the SAG which is the government’s sole certifying authority for such hi-tech and sensitive equipment which the security agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, use for operations.

Are there any products out there which dont have Chinese parts?

Not sure from the report if he means Chinese designed processors or American/European parts which were manufactured in China?

[sum]

Was this posted earlier?
Ghosts Who Walk

Spywork For Dummies

Lack of coordination: Turf battles have slowed down or completely blocked reform No financial accountability: Secret service funds steadily increasing, without unused funds being surrendered
Press reports as intelligence: Artfully cloaked news reports from international publications passed off as source reports
Poor recruitment policies: RAW suffers from the “tail-end syndrome” where UPSC bottom-rungers are offered jobs
Archaic training: The training curriculum in RAW remains archaic and too police-centric Drift in operational work: Breaches of national security due to poor analysis and inadequate follow-up action
Lack of cover: RAW operatives suffer from inadequate cover when posted abroad

Intelligence reforms in India have usually been an area that always sees a piecemeal approach, mostly crisis-driven and not based on a real assessment of need. Now, for the first time, a task force of the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (idsa) has come up with a comprehensive set of recommendations by examining the processes that have plagued India’s intelligence community.

Making a strong pitch for greater accountability via a parliamentary oversight board, the task force has suggested the government also look at strengthening financial accountability as a measure to prepare Indian intelligence agencies for the challenges of the 21st century.

“About a year ago, vice-president Hamid Ansari pointed out that there is a need for statutory oversight of our intelligence agencies. That was the spark needed...for us at idsa,” director-general N.S. Sisodia told Outlook. In a first, the think-tank decided to look at preparing recommendations that examine the critical processes of national security “to promote a healthy debate and help the government take an informed decision”, says Sisodia.

The task force examined the efficacy of the current operational structure, recruitment, ability to process raw inputs into actionable intelligence, technology upgrades and better intelligence coordination between the agencies (currently riven by turf wars). Led by R. Banerji, a well-regarded former special secretary in raw, with P.K. Upadhya and Brig Raj Shukla as its members, it held a series of consultations with the strategic community, including former nsa Brajesh Mishra, the recently deceased K. Subrahmanyam and a host of ex-IB and raw chiefs before preparing its report.

Some of the key problem areas identified by the task force are:

Lack of national intelligence coordination: Acknowledging that turf wars have proved to be a major impediment, the report notes that they have “taken a toll by slowing down or even completely blocking reform”. The task force also felt that proposed organisations like the National Counter Terrorism Centre (nctc) have the “potential to intensify turf battles among existing agencies”. Hence, it has recommended that the government appoint a national intelligence coordinator to end turf battles and assist the national security advisor in preventing a repeat of intelligence failures like Kargil and the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008.

No financial accountability: The task force felt that “to improve efficiency... there can be no getting away from introducing some sort of external supervision and control, including legislative oversight”. It also examined critical lacunae in current procedures where there is no accountability of secret service funds. In fact, it observed that unlike other government budgetary allocations, funds here never lapse at the end of a financial year. “Ironically enough, the secret service funds portion has been steadily increasing and it is that portion which is never surrendered whereas other portions of funds allotted do lapse if schemes remain unimplemented.” It feels these “aberrations need to be controlled and scrutinised”.

Press reports passed off as secret intelligence: The task force did not mince words where “very common examples of misuse of operational practices” such as “artfully cloaking” news reports from “international publications such as the (International) Herald Tribune, Le Monde or foreign magazines such as Der Spiegel as source reports”. Many intelligence operatives would then source these news reports to their “non-existent human source assets” and even claim secret service funds. As a result, Indian intelligence has been plagued by spectacular failures on several occasions.

Poor recruitment policies: The task force noted that raw suffered from the “tail-end syndrome” where the “bottom of the entrance lists” of those appearing for the upsc examinations were offered jobs. Even the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which used to have an excellent earmarking system, has now “diluted” its standards. Both agencies seem to have confined their “deputation quotas” to the Indian Police Service. { So the IPS-isation of RAW also is complete. We could as well as merge back RAW with IB since RAW was created to avoid the police like thinking of IB}As a result, specialised requirements such as science and technology or intake of defence service officers have suffered. The task force has strongly recommended open recruitment to ensure that the most talented professionals are recruited. It noted that this is the current practice in frontline intelligence agencies of countries like the US, the UK and Israel.

Archaic training: The “training curriculum in raw”, the report notes, “remains archaic and too police-centric”. Training methods have not even incorporated “modern technological advances in methods of communication” for running a source. In the IB, training schedules have been ‘shortened” to meet operational needs, far short of the ideal two years needed to produce good intelligence operatives. The task force also points out that an earlier recommendation to establish a common training centre for all intelligence agencies “was not accepted”.

Poor analysis and drift in operational work: “Many breaches of national security occurred in the past and continue to occur today, not for want of intelligence, but due to poor analysis and inadequate follow-up action.” The task force analysed the problem and said operations is an area that needs urgent attention. It recommends that analysts be trained in modern prescriptive work which can then ensure better supervision in operations.

Lack of cover jobs: A major problem for raw operatives has been the inadequate cover they get when posted abroad. Sadly, the report says, “in India efforts were made earlier to experiment with non-official cover by setting up a travel agency or a security wing thereof with operations overseas. But these proposals did not get off the ground due to last-minute bureaucratic obstacles”. {How is RAW a external intel org if it doesnt even have a non-diplomatic cover for its spies..faceplam!!}The current diplomatic cover “limits access to spot real targets” and causes issues on handling “high-value assets”. It also restricted gathering intelligence in specialised fields like economics and technology. “While working on the report, we noted that a balance must be maintained between operational efficiency and oversight mechanisms,” Banerji told Outlook. “All major democracies have gone in for several tiers of accountability and oversight and it empowers intelligence agencies to produce sharper results.”

[Aditya G]

Has there ever been any published good news or success story with NTRO?

Last we read they were operating UAVs ... such assets should remain in operational control of the air force. Complete squadrons should then be deputed to RAW or NTRO per need. For example. ARC assets should be merged with the IAF ... and ARC should remain only a tasking organization to the IAF sqn. Similar to how IAF Hind gunships are in Army command.

[sum]

Has there ever been any published good news or success story with NTRO?

IIRC, lots of the Jehadi wannabes ( like T.Nazir etc) who were "pushed back" from BD were pin-pointed by NTRO folks.

Also, i think few of the IM guys within India were tracked by the NTRO.

[shyamd]

NTRO runs a lot of sensitive stuff and runs a lot of the PRC ops.

FYI, with regards to cover: Its not that bad although it could be better. It's a case of will power and they have the capability should they wish to use it.

Stealing of secret service funds is very common in every country even the western countries up until recently they were able to put in mechanisms to limit it. But it is down to the integrity of the managers.

Many reports have come and gone, none have been implemented.

[Rahul M]

AG, ARC is recruiting its own pilots.

[jaladipc]

Bugs found in AKA office I hear

Confirmed: bit.ly/wjydqR

MI is the one under suspicion. If you ask me I think they want to get rid of VK Singh one way or another.

does this put any broken pieces together?

VKS being offered bribe by an Indian auto major who in turn partnered with a brit company?

I dont wanna name the vehicle/company which will make it obvious before actual investigation does its own duty.

This shows, how entrenched the foreign forces are into our own services.. No wonder Brit PM said that "he will go to any extent to secure the MRCA deal".

[shyamd]

Are you saying VKS selectively leaked this story?

[anjan]

Similar to how IAF Hind gunships are in Army command.

This is one of the greatest sources of heartburn in the AAC ever. These are Army assets (in that the Army paid for them) but employed by the Air Force under Air Force command. In practice the Air Force pilot can tell the Army OC to go take a hike and nothing much can be done. His administrative chain is entirely separate. I don't think that's a desirable end case here.

[Aditya G]

Thanks for the info RM.

Hi Anjan, I think you have it the other way round. The squadrons are under Army command - under Strike Corps while they technically belong to IAF and are flown and maintained by IAF

[VinodTK]

Chinese Grad Student Hacks Indian Military Research Firms

:
:
Amid a raging debate about who should be blamed for leaking the letter, India’s cyber security is actually under attack, from a Chinese former graduate student who now works for Tencent, China’s leading internet portal company.

A report released Friday by Trend Micro, a computer security firm, “describes systematic attacks on at least 233 personal computers,” Nicole Perlroth writes in The New York Times. “The victims include Indian military research organizations and shipping companies; aerospace, energy and engineering companies in Japan; and at least 30 computer systems of Tibetan advocacy groups, according to both the report and interviews with experts connected to the research. The espionage has been going on for at least 10 months and is continuing, the report says.”

he e-mail “bait” the hackers used to get access to computers is chilling:

Each attack began, as is often the case, with an e-mail intended to lure victims into opening an attachment. Indian victims were sent an e-mail about India’s ballistic missile defense program. Tibetan advocates received e-mails about self-immolation or, in one case, a job opening at the Tibet Fund, a nonprofit based in New York City. After Japan’s earthquake and nuclear disaster, victims in Japan received an e-mail about radiation measurements.

Each e-mail contained an attachment that, when clicked, automatically created a backdoor from the victim’s computer to the attackers’ servers. To do this, the hackers exploited security holes in Microsoft Office and Adobe software. Almost immediately, they uploaded a directory of the victims’ machines to their servers. If the files looked enticing, hackers installed a remote-access tool, or rat, which gave them real-time control of their target’s machine. As long as a victim’s computer was connected to the Internet, attackers had the ability to record their keystrokes and passwords, grab screenshots and even crawl from that machine to other computers in the victim’s network.
:
:

[sum]

Tons of secrets related to India and our leaders would have gone to the grave with him:

Ex-Soviet master spy kills himself

Former Soviet master spy Leonid Shebarshin, who had worked for many years in India and Pakistan, is believed to have killed himself in Moscow.

The body of General Shebarshin, who turned 77 a few days ago, was found in his flat in central Moscow on Friday. Police said he had apparently shot himself with his pistol.

Gen. Shebarshin was KGB station chief in India in 1971-1977. He also worked in Pakistan and Iran. In 1989 he was appointed head of the First Main Directorate, the foreign intelligence service of the KGB, and headed the KGB for one day after the August 1991 putsch against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He retired after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Police said they found a suicide note in Gen. Shebarshin's flat but refused to disclose its contents. The veteran spy lived alone after his wife died several years ago.

Interesting statement of his:

“The ability of Indians to achieve their goals cannot but evoke respect and even envy. They have a civilisation behind them that goes back 5,000 years,” he wrote in his book of memoirs, The Hand of Moscow .

[arunsrinivasan]

Mostly old news, with some updates on current status
Why Indian intelligence doesn’t work too well in Pakistan

Ask an Indian intelligence official about the challenge involved in tracking Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives inside Pakistan and they all give the same answer . Most officers who have served in Pakistan say that India has the capability to hit the terror group in Pakistan, but the government doesn't allow such covert actions. "We don't do covert operations like the CIA, MI6 and Mossad. This doesn't mean that we don't have the capability. Given a chance, we could prove equal to all these agencies," says a former officer.

But sources in the R&AW , India's external agency, say India lacks both political will and the capability to carry out a hit inside Pakistan. "We do not have the mandate to do what Mossad does. Our charter does not include the job of getting (or assassinating) people from other countries. If such political will is there, the agency would be able to do it," says a senior RAW official.

In fact, over the past two decades the agency has even lost some of its capability for covert operations abroad. "During the 1980s, the agency used to have two Counter Intelligence Teams (CITs) in Pakistan: one targeting the country and the other targeting Khalistani militant infrastructure. However, during Prime Minister I K Gujral's time, both these teams were dismantled and the extensive human intelligence network in Pakistan was scaled down," says another official. "Done purely on moral grounds, this severely affected our capability. That structure h a s a s yet not been restored as the political class here believes that covert operations spoil bilateral relations," he adds.

The agency, sources say, now conducts operations primarily by paying money to local operatives in Pakistan instead of its own agents. But such groups can't hit out at ISI-protected figures like Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim.

Another former officer , who has spent a considerable time studying these outfits, attributes it to the fundamental difference between India and Pakistan in dealing with espionage. "It takes a great deal of money and time to cultivate sources in foreign soil. We don't have either in plenty, unlike countries in the West. Pakistan's ISI is better off in this as the state sponsors terrorism ," he says.

In order to surmount the challenges on the ground, most intelligence officers believe that they need better equipment for surveillance as well as the go-ahead for covert tactics. "The direction finders we used before would give us kilometre per square information about somebody we wanted to track. We knew he was there somewhere but couldn't pinpoint his location. Now, of course, we have better technology . But if you pit it against what the Americans use, there is a lot of catching up to do. However, even with smarter technology we cannot do much unless our government allows us to do covert operations. You will see the difference then."

[sum]

The agency, sources say, now conducts operations primarily by paying money to local operatives in Pakistan instead of its own agents. But such groups can't hit out at ISI-protected figures like Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim.

Would assume that Shahid Bilal was bumped off in Karachi by a "sub-contractor" hired by Kaccha?

That structure h a s a s yet not been restored as the political class here believes that covert operations spoil bilateral relations,

Can only hope and pray that this is just media dis-information and we have actually built some of the networks back compared to IKG times.

[chetak]

The agency, sources say, now conducts operations primarily by paying money to local operatives in Pakistan instead of its own agents. But such groups can't hit out at ISI-protected figures like Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim.

Would assume that Shahid Bilal was bumped off in Karachi by a "sub-contractor" hired by Kaccha?

That structure h a s a s yet not been restored as the political class here believes that covert operations spoil bilateral relations,

Can only hope and pray that this is just media dis-information and we have actually built some of the networks back compared to IKG times.

This is why MMS's moralizing and zealous approach is to be feared. Not much difference between him and IKG as far as pappi jhappi is concerned and damn the consequences.

Here at least, the congress is not so taken up with the pro paki overtures compared to the virtually unlimited damage that IKG was allowed to do.

[ManuT]

Indian spy who was Zardari's jail mate wants to meet him {misleading title. The real story is of Indian POWs in jails}
IANS | Apr 8, 2012, 11.53AM IST

{posting in full so that there is no need to click on the TOIlet link}
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... ttarget=no

KOLKATA: Mehboob Elahi is happy that his old prison mate Asif Ali Zardari is coming to India but is crestfallen that he will not get to meet the Pakistani president during his short visit Sunday. Elahi, a former Indian spy, was Zardari's jail mate at the Karachi Central Jail for a few months between 1986-87.

Elahi had decided that if he gets to meet Zardari he would request the Pakistani president to release all the Indian prisoners of war in Pakistani jails.

Elahi had served two decades in several Pakistani prisons from 1977-1996 on the charge of spying for India. He was Zardari's prison mate along with several leaders of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the Karachi Central Jail in 1986-87.

"I had been serving in the same prison along with Zardari and Benazir Bhutto during the military rule in Pakistan under Zia-ul-Haq. We used to meet Zardari on Sundays in the courtyard of the jail," Elahi told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Elahi, a seasoned spy of the late 60s and 70s, had twice crossed over to Pakistan - once via East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and once via the western border. He recollected how he had developed a good rapport with Zardari in prison.

"He (Zardari) used to talk about the political situation in Pakistan, and the misrule and suppression of Zia. He had a strong following inside the jail," he recalled.

According to Elahi, Zardari was "sympathetic" to the plight of Indian prisoners.

"Zardari was quite influential and he was sympathetic to Indian POWs. The Indian POWs used to wash the clothes of Pakistani prisoners and do menial chores for them. They would also do it for Zardari, but Zardari was sympathetic to them. He would speak to them, buy them soap and sweets," said Elahi.

Initially, Elahi spent nearly 10 years in Pakistan from 1968 to 1977 after spying in various government organisations, including the Pakistani army and police.

The 52-year-old spy, who still bears the scars of Pakistani torture all over his body, said during his stay in Pakistani jails he came across hundreds of Indian POWs and fishermen who are suffering in Pakistan for years.

"I have met hundreds of Indian prisoners there, most of them POWs. Many of them have either gone mad or have lost their memory due to inhuman torture. They can't even recollect their names."
He regretted that neither the Indian government nor the Indian Army has done enough to bring the "real heroes" back home.

Elahi had written to the Pakistani High Commission in India seeking an appointment with Zardari during his six-hour visit to India, but did not receive a reply.

"I didn't get a reply from Pakistan high commission. But the sad thing is that I had also written to the Indian president ( Pratibha Patil), but she too didn't reply. I am disheartened by this indifference of both the countries towards the POWs."

Since his release in 1996, Elahi has been a voracious campaigner for release of Indian POWs and prisoners. During the BJP-led NDA rule he sat on a demonstration in New Delhi and even threatened to commit suicide in front of parliament. The then defence and foreign minister Jaswant Singh had assured him that the Indian government was consistently taking up the issue with Pakistan.

"The Indian prisoners are tortured everyday, I was also tortured. In 1996 there were around 1,335 prisoners. Now the figure may have increased or decreased, but still there are several Indian POWs in Pakistan," he said.

Elahi recollected how officers close to Zia tried to lure him with money and promise of release in exchange for killing former Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was then languishing in Lahore jail after a coup by the country's army.

"I was offered a blank cheque and a promise of release provided I assassinate Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. But I refused to carry out the act."

Elahi is upset that in India "most Muslims are viewed with suspicion".

"Muslims are patriots. They should not been seen with an eye of suspicion. Muslims are ready to die for their motherland," said Elahi

Zardari will have lunch with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, followed by a one-on-one meeting, after which he will visit the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer and fly back in the evening.

[shyamd]

Basically, the official hasnt said much different to what I said in 2004 on BR. Looks like not much changed. Basically, if desis want something they can get it. But it's expensive which is true. Costs would have soared in the last 7 years.

Even today the type of operations that the west used in the 90s have changed a lot.

[shyamd]

Naresh chandra committee report will be delayed by 2 months or something due to delay in receiving some reports.

[sum]

Security agencies to READ BlackBerry messages, e-mails

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com that within a month, the messages exchanged on the highly popular BlackBerry Messenger will no longer be a private affair. Security agencies are now trying to find a way to access real-time messages and e-mails sent by BlackBerry phones.

Cell phone manufacturer Nokia had already agreed to come under the vigilance radar of Indian agencies. Nokia's push mail services and e-mails exchanged via the phone can be tracked. The telecommunications firm has also allowed Indian agencies to use cell phone tracking technology to pick up the exact location of a person.

Tracking messages or e-mails exchanged on BlackBerry phones through the enterprise server had always been a tricky issue. The investigative agency would first have to access emails and messages stored with the service provider in a decrypted format. The message is then encrypted and sent out to the device and this is done through nearly 4,000-odd servers.

Once these agencies start deciphering BlackBerry messages and e-mails, the activities of terrorists are bound to be hampered; they had preferred this particular device for the very fact that it could not be tracked easily.

Currently, eight security agencies have the authority to snoop into BBM services -- Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation, Research and Analysis Wing, Enforcement Directorate, National Technical Research Organisation, the state police wings and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

But these agencies need to put together a proper case before approaching the home ministry. Once a person is placed under the vigilance radar and the necessary formalities fulfilled, these agencies will be able to track the information in real-time with the help of the BlackBerry server and the service providers.

[Sachin]

^^^
sum reading the list I feel there are pretty much no agencies who CANNOT intercept blackberry communications . The Military Intelligence and Coast Guard etc. seems to be the only folks left out. Even state SB CID has the rights.

[sum]

^^ Have no doubt that the MI and DIA would have rights given that even state SB have been given these powers!!!

Wonder if any agency has been missed out!

[nachiket]

^^Don't see the NIA in there. "Hindoo Fundamentalists" don't use Blackberries it seems.

[shyamd]

Chinese loans for Indian telecom firm raise eyebrows

Sandeep Joshi
Share · print · T+

RAW sends note to Department of Telecommunications on loans given by Chinese banks to RCom

The operations of Chinese telecom equipment providers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation in India have again come under the scanner of law enforcement agencies and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

The matter now relates to Reliance Communications (RCom) getting huge loans from Chinese financial institutions with the help of the two firms.

Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in a note to DoT, pointed to Huawei Technologies' “links” with the People's Liberation Army and the Ministry of State Security of China.

“It may be recalled that in 2010, BSNL, on security grounds, cancelled a contract awarded to Huawei and ZTE for GSM projects in the northern and eastern zones in India even though their bid was adjudged the lowest,” the note said.

Referring to the loans being provided by the Export Import Bank of China, the China Development Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the note states, “Influential Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corporation are understood to have helped RCom to secure loans from the State-owned Chinese banks as RCom is to buy $600 million worth of telecom gear from them.”

The note talks about how the two Chinese firms have launched an “aggressive Indianisation' drive to change their public perception in India.” “Huawei Technologies has recently decided to appoint an Indian as the Chairman of its wholly-owned subsidiary in India and has taken some Indians on the Board of Directors. ZTE also plans to revamp its five-member board in India by taking more Indians,” it said.

Notably, Huawei and ZTE have been providing equipment to various firms like Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices besides offering them easy payment options for such purchases.

When contacted, RCom refused to comment on the issue.

“Baseless”

However, Huawei India refuted such “allegations” as “untrue, baseless and malicious in intent.”

“Despite such continuous and repeated disinformation campaign over the past 12 years of its presence in India , the company has been serving India customers and firmly committed to being India's partner and contributor to the growth and development of the telecom/ICT Industry in India,” an official statement said.

“With more than 6,000 employees in India and dedicated R&D centre, a local manufacturing centre, operational centre, service centre and training centre across the country, Huawei has also been proactively collaborating and cooperating with the Indian government thus fully complying with all legal and regulatory requirements locally as it does internationally…Huawei is a completely transparent private global business entity and willing to communicate with any government agencies on any issues concerned,” the Huawei India spokesperson said.

In 2010, BSNL, on security grounds, cancelled contract awarded to Huawei and ZTE

Huawei and ZTE have been providing equipment to various firms

[ArunK]

...
Initially, Elahi spent nearly 10 years in Pakistan from 1968 to 1977 after spying in various government organisations, including the Pakistani army and police.

The 52-year-old spy, who still bears the scars of Pakistani torture all over his body, said during his stay in Pakistani jails he came across hundreds of Indian POWs and fishermen who are suffering in Pakistan for years....

Something does not seem right here. If Elahi is now 52 and operated in Pakistan from 1968-1977 then he must have been 8 years old

[kit]

Sometime back the American Intelligence agencies were and is still actively interested in knowing more about the Indian Natonal ID project., the UIDA . The reason why ..read on !!!

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/04 ... tech/all/1

So after 9/11, intelligence sources said, CIA ops managers began putting renewed emphasis on recruiting spies in foreign border-control agencies — people with access to the electronic files, who can change, add or eliminate documents.

The less said the better !

[shyamd]

Good news on MAC

IM- No large scale recruitments, but……..

By Vicky Nanjappa

Pic-IBN Live

It is a well known fact that the Indian Mujahideen has been one of India’s deadliest home grown outfits. While it is a fact that a large number of their cadres have been arrested it is also a fact that many of the top leaders are still at large.

An input from the Home Ministry goes on to suggest that the Indian Mujahideen is recruiting cadres but the presence of the outfit has come down a great deal. This would indicate that the outfit is currently down and is still trying to re-build itself.

The Home Ministry note states that the Indian Mujahideen’s strongest presence is in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi and Maharashtra. According to reports from the Intelligence Bureau the IM cadres are being recruited from U.P., Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi and Maharashtra. However the note also adds that there is no input however to suggest large scale presence of these cadres and recruitment drives undertaken by them so far.

IB sources say that the last straw for the IM however was the busting of the Bihar module. It is considered to be a relative new module and it did carry out a couple of operations on a smaller scale. The operations according to the IB were hurried ones since it is extremely important for them to carry out strikes so that their recruitment process can continue.

Off late due to immense crackdowns and also several cases of witch hunting several youth have stayed away from the IM and this was making matters tough for the group. From across the border too the support levels for the IM have gone down and the IB feels that this is an intentional strategy. The Bihar module was however an important module and had it not been tracked down immediately it could have well seen the re-emergence of a very strong outfit once again.

The Home Ministry however adds that the agencies are on its toes and would do everything possible to ensure that the outfit does not stage a re-emergence. Recently an Indian Mujahideen module has been busted and 10 persons arrested since November 2011 from Delhi, Bihar, U.P. and Tamil Nadu.
There exists a very close and effective coordination amongst intelligence agencies at the centre and State level. Intelligence inputs about possible designs and threats are shared with the State governments concerned on a regular basis. The Multi Agency Centre (MAC) has been strengthened and reorganized to enable it to function on 24×7 basis for real time collation and sharing of Intelligence with other intelligence agencies and security Intelligence Inputs are also shared with the concerned States through the established mechanism, which ensures close coordination and sharing of intelligence and seamless flow of information between the State and the Central security and law enforcement agency. This has resulted in busting of terrorist modules and a number of possible terrorism attacks have been averted.

However for the police more important than nabbing operatives is understanding the operations. Although all the ten recently arrested operatives have been talking the police are still finding it difficult to make sense out of the operation. In certain cases the police have found the attacks to be inter-connected for instance the IPL and Delhi attacks. However while investigating the 13/7 attacks there appears to be no connection between the modules at all. The fact is that in all these places where the blasts took place the IM has had a strong presence and it could well be an stray operations which have been carried out suo motu.

Take the case of Kamal Hasan who was arrested in Kolkata and brought down to Bangalore. Well, the police say that he could be a Southern commander for the force. One may have to wait for the investigation to complete before coming to any conclusion. However from preliminary investigations it appears as though Hasan was in the know of things and more of a logistic provider for the Indian Mujahideen. Sources say that Hasan who hails from Madhubani is closely related to a person who worked in an ammunition factory and here he picked up skills on preparing explosives. The other angle to the Hasan case is that he worked along with Yasin Bhatkal and provided logistic support during the IPL and Delhi attacks.

The IB says that today the IM is in disarray. The funds, recruitment’s and also the planning is being carried out by fringe elements in the group and there is no real coordination with the ISI as was the case a couple of years back. This should not however be construed to be a detachment by the ISI. With plenty of international heat on the ISI already it would like the IM to operate exactly how it is operating today with no involvement what so ever. It has done its bit in protecting the biggies such as Abdus Subhan and the Bhatkal brothers as these are the men who could lead the investigators to the Pakistani establishment. The IB says that it is only when a major operation is planned by the ISI will the Indian Mujahideen cadres be taken into their fold for logistic support within India.

[SaiK]

We have nice abstraction of all things at 50K feet, when and whats of ISI engaging the criminals. But, we have no clue when they do something like mumbai. Now, IB needs to work on providing such data with some thoughts into, how they can narrow down the culprits before they implant another terror. It could be the way the reports are read, but that is the feeling I get.

My point is this: If I know, ISI is in the zone, then I should also know where in there. If not, we have serious security issues in allowing them to be in. Now, we can theorize on spies and other established network, but there ought to be bigger loophole to allow various communication, contrabands, etc smuggle routes that is still wide open.

[SagarAg]

RAW postings likely to come under RTI
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 668467.cms

NEW DELHI: Appointments to India's secretive external intelligence arm, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), could come under public scrutiny, with the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) upholding an order that the administrative process of an appointment is not exempted from the RTI.

Although the agency is likely to further challenge the order, the CIC ruling does throw open RAW's functioning and officials to RTI applications.

Passing an order on an RTI query seeking information on appointment of RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi, the CIC upheld an appellate authority directive that the external agency is not exempted from the Act as the administrative work in the case was carried out by the Cabinet secretariat.

Although an appointment does not in itself impinge on its more secret functions, information about postings and designations being made public can be worrying for the RAW, whose organizational structure is a secret.

"The order, which doesn't seem to be thought through, opens up a lot of sensitive activities to public scrutiny," a former RAW chief said.

Filed last August by Subhash Chandra Aggarwal, the RTI application had sought replies to a number of questions related to the appointment of current chief Sanjeev Tripathi. The application was rejected by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) last December on the ground that RAW was exempted from the ambit of the Act under Section 24(1) of the RTI Act.

Subsequently, Aggarwal appealed with the first appellate authority at the Cabinet secretariat. When the authority failed to pass an order in stipulated time, Aggarwal approached CIC that heard the matter on February 29, 2012. The appellate authority saw merit in the plea and held: "The desired information did not relate to the exempted organization but to the manner in which the appointment was made by the competent authority and, therefore, it could not be said that the information was about the exempted organization."

Aggarwal is now alleging deliberate delay on part of Cabinet secretariat.

"I have still not received the information as the Cabinet secretariat has forwarded the query to a different division now," he says.

[ramana]

I said mny times that INC has succeeded in bureaucratizing intelligence services and have made them one more babu branch of the government.

How valid is for anyone to know how or why the head of the premier intelligence agency is appointed or not by the government?

[chiragAS]

RAW postings likely to come under RTI

This is just the start, wait till some thing like L@k pal bill passes..
In the zeal of showing we are less corrupt.. we will be openly exposing family jewels to one and all..

[SagarAg]

Does RAW have an official website ?