The Nagrota encounter in Jammu on Thursday where four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists were killed has turned out to be a major breakthrough in terms of exposing Pakistan’s link with terror activities in India. Some material recovered from slain terrorists directly proves that they came from Pakistan. A digital mobile radio made by a Pakistani company, medicines other products with Pakistani markings were found with the terrorists, proving beyond doubt that they belong to Pakistan.
But now with additional analysis of the radio set carried by the terrorists, it also shows how the terrorists have the active support of the Pakistani military. The Digital Mobile Radio carried by the terrorists, a two-way radio communication device used mainly by the military, carries the model name MPD 2505, and the brand name Micro. This device is manufactured by Micro Electronics International Pvt Ltd, a Pakistan based company.
The website of the company informs that MPD 2505 is a Walkie Talkie type Micro Secure DMR VHF Handheld Radio. The website also features the product brochure of the DMR made by the company, which mentions its technical and other specifications. The specifications made it clear that it is a military-grade product.
In fact, the about us page on the website of MEI makes it clear, as it mentions that the company is serving the military/government sector by providing radio systems. The company’s major clients include virtually every arm of police and defence establishment in Pakistan. It lists Strategic Plans Division, Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Rangers, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary KPK, Police, Airports Security Force, Security agencies etc as its major clients, apart from other government and private organisations.
But the ties of the company with Pakistani military establishment goes beyond just a manufacturer-consumer relationship. In 1981, the company’s radio making facility was acquired and leased by the Ministry of Defence in the Pakistan government, to support the production of military radios. Till 1991, the company ran as a public-private partnership, before it was sold to private owners.
Major Manik M. Jolly, a gallantry award-winning Indian army veteran, also cybersecurity and renewable energy expert, pointed out several aspects linking the company with the Pakistani military, and its questionable ownership. He noted that the company’s Lahore office is located inside the Lahore Cantonment, a military-controlled municipal area, which serves as the headquarters of 4 Corps of Pakistani Army. It shows that the company has deep ties with the military, and can maintain a constant touch with the Army and the ISI.
Major Jolly also tweeted that the distance from Lahore to launching point near Nagrota is not very much, which could mean that it is possible that the terrorists were being handled from the military base.
banned in India, this making tracing the communication within India nearly impossible.
— Maj Manik M Jolly,SM (@Manik_M_Jolly) November 20, 2020
3. One of their offices is INSIDE Lahore Cantt. If they were equipped there, the distance from Lahore to launching point near Nagrota is much of a stretch. This also can link how the company pic.twitter.com/v76Hk0nlas
Apart from the Lahore office, the company’s Rawalpindi office is located in Pakistan Military Accounts Officer Colony inside Rawalpindi Cantonment, and its Karachi office is located in the Services Club Building. Most importantly, the company also has a factory inside the Lahore Cantt in Lahore.
This shows that even though Pakistan govt no longer owns the company, it is still mostly operated from military bases.
The Indian Army veteran also pointed out that the new owner of the company is a person that seems to be fake. The owner is Muhammad Nauman, and his LinkedIn Profile says that he owns the company since 1997, 6 years after it was ‘sold’ by Defence Ministry. There is no other experience, education or any other detail of Nauman on LinkedIn, and Major Manik M. Jolly noted that he looks to young to be owner of the company for more than 23 years. He concluded that it is definitely a fake profile.
A Google search also reveals no information of the owner of such a high-profile organisation, indicating that Major Jolly’s conclusion could be correct.
The LinkedIn profile of the company says it has 11-50 employees. For a company involved in multiple lines of hi-tech products, with offices located in multiple cities in Pakistan, this is a surprisingly low number. This indicates that most of the details of the company are secret, and it may have personnel from the military working with it, which are officially not listed as employees of the company.
Apart from the Digital Mobile Radio, a large number of arms and ammunition were recovered from the terrorists killed in the Nagrota encounter. This included 11 AK-47 rifles, pistols, grenades, grenade launchers, RDX and other items. For four terrorists, these was a large inventory, which means that other terrorists were going to accompany them at a later state. The terrorists were also carrying very little food with them, which points towards the possibility that they were on a suicide mission.
Therefore, it was a major success of Indian Security Forces, who prevented a major terror attack by Pakistan based terror organisation JeM.