The latest tool by the Jaish-e-Mohammad is the virtual number

New Delhi, Dec 02: The National Investigation Agency in its latest chargesheet has signalled the trouble with virtual numbers being used by terrorists.

The NIA says that the members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad were plotting a major strike in Delhi by using virtual numbers. The investigations that were conducted following the Pulwama attack suggested that the terrorists had coordinated through virtual numbers.

These numbers work through a server. The user has to sign up by downloading an application on their phone, following which it can be used to sign up for services such as WhatsApp and other social media accounts.

The Pulwama bomber Adil too had used a virtual number which was generated by a service provider in the United States. The virtual SIM ensures that one does not need a locally registered SIM to get a mobile connection.

The number is computer generated and the same can be of any country depending on the service provider. The virtual SIM also allows the user to make or receive calls on the local phone numbers from as many as 50 countries. Further the provider does not place any limit on the number of virtual numbers one can have on the SIM card.

In its chargesheet, the NIA said that the Jaish-e-Mohammad had planned on carrying out strikes in New Delhi post the Pulwama attack.

The module of the JeM had tasked one of its members to carry out a reconnaissance in Delhi, the chargesheet filed by the NIA against four members of the outfit also stated.
The NIA says that Mudasir Ahmed was sent to various places in Delhi and asked to find targets that the JeM could hit. He stayed in touch with Sajjad Ahmad, Tanvir Ahmad, Bilal Ahmad and Muzaffar Ahmad, the NIA said while filing charges.

One of the key points that the NIA makes is with regard to the virtual mobile numbers that the operatives used to plan the attacks. The numbers were generated in the US and through this directions were given.

Ahmad used two virtual numbers to stay in touch with the other members. The NIA says that the mastermind of this operation was Mufti Yaseer who had infiltrated into India from Pakistan. He had come to India a few months before the Pulwama attack and had trained several members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad. This group had also identified other targets to strike following the attack at Pulwama in which 40 CRPF jawans were martyred.

Following the attack at Pulwama these members sent congratulatory messages among each other and called it Kashmir ki Eid. The NIA also noted that Bilal had told Muddasir that the next suicide attack would be carried out by him.