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In the age of ever-changing technology, mobile phones are an asset for investigating agencies. However, it was the lack of cell phones that partly led to the success of the latest operation, which led to the arrest of five Indian Mujahideen (IM) militants, believe officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Hot on the trail of IM operatives, they realised that their movements and operation details were being monitored, as with advanced software,  the locations of the phone and its user can be tracked to precision.

Department seniors asked the officers to switch off their mobile phones and detach the SIM cards.

The directive was given to maintain utmost secrecy and to ensure their movement was not tracked by other departments like the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing.

No mobiles in terror trail

Crime Branch officials got the first setback, when they failed to arrest alleged suspect Mohammed Atiq from his L-18 Batla House hideout in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi. The team was tracking Atiq's movements for some time; however, a team of Delhi Police's Special Cell gunned down two suspected IM cadre. This led the Mumbai cops to believe that the local police were tracking the movements of the Crime Branch.

Tracking mobiles

The Crime Branch officers were fanning across the country tracking the IM trail, when they realised that their movement was being tracked. Some of the teams were in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, New Delhi, Azamgarh and even coastal Bhatkal in South India.

The officers soon realised that there could be other agencies interested in the IM hunt as well. "The mobile phones could have given away our plans and position," informed an officer, on condition of anonymity.

The officers soon discarded their phones, and the ploy worked. Other agencies on the IM trail were left in the cold, and had virtually no clue about the Mumbai police's operations. This resulted in the arrest of alleged suspect Afzal Usmani.

JCP (crime) Rakesh Maria was unavailable for comment.

Number chadana

It is not difficult to track the position of a mobile phone and its user if the number is put under observation or 'number chadana' as it is known in inner circles. Not only can the conversation be recorded or overheard, but the locations of the phones/users can also be known.