[🇮🇳] China's satellite in the mix? The hidden signal India followed to the Pahalgam attackers

[Krishna with Flute]

Date of Event: Jul 31, 2025

Source : https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/china-s-satellite-in-the-mix-the-hidden-signal-india-followed-to-the-pahalgam-attackers/ar-AA1Jym5a?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=735d011fccfc4eafc643ba3464112733&ei=36

China's satellite in the mix? The hidden signal India followed to the Pahalgam attackers​

China's satellite in the mix? The hidden signal India followed to the Pahalgam attackers
It wasn’t a burst of gunfire or footprints in the moss that gave them away — it was a flicker of data. A faint, highly encrypted signal traced to a remote Himalayan ridge became the critical clue in a months-long pursuit of the terrorists behind April’s Pahalgam massacre.

That moment of digital exposure, near Mahadev Peak in Dachigam forest, triggered Operation Mahadev, a mission that ended with three militants dead and one burning question: what exactly were they using to stay invisible?



A digital footprint

Indian security forces and J&K Police closed in on Mulnar Peak near Lidwas Meadow, where three militants had taken shelter. They had been on the move since April 22, when 26 civilians were gunned down in Baisaran, Pahalgam. A key turning point came when a satellite signal was intercepted, echoing one previously detected on July 11 in the same region, a digital footprint that didn’t belong in the forest.

What the forces recovered wasn’t just ammunition and rations—it included a covert communication device believed to have been used to stay in touch with handlers across the border. “This equipment doesn’t rely on Indian mobile networks. It uses radio frequencies to link to nearby devices and transmit data out via satellite, avoiding regular cellular detection,” an officer was quoting as saying in an Indian Express report.



It was this signal—a whisper in the spectrum—that allowed Indian technical intelligence teams to track their movement over steep ridgelines and dense forest. Security forces had been mapping these anomalies over weeks, aided by drones, radio intercepts, and human intelligence.

A Chinese connection?

But the broader investigation into the April Pahalgam attack had already raised alarm bells about newer satellite-enabled devices surfacing in the region.

According to surveillance inputs reviewed after the attack, the movement of a Huawei smartphone with satellite capability was detected near the attack site—raising serious concerns about the evolving tech profile of terror operatives.

Huawei’s high-end smartphones like the Mate 60 Pro and P60 series come equipped with built-in satellite communication hardware, capable of connecting to China’s Tiantong-1 network without relying on local towers or SIM cards.



Unlike traditional Thuraya sets—bulky, rugged, and easy to spot—these phones look like any other Android device, offering encrypted text, voice, and even media transmission under the guise of normal civilian use.

Though not confirmed as the same device used in Operation Mahadev, security officials say the pattern is concerning. “They don’t just use these phones to evade local surveillance. The risk is that operational data might also be passing through foreign satellite infrastructure,” the official in the report added.

Huawei is banned in India, but its satellite-enabled devices may be smuggled via Pakistan or other third countries, raising a new layer of threat: covert communications blending into civilian tech environments.

While the exact identity and origin of the device recovered in the Dachigam encounter are still under forensic examination, one fact is clear—the battleground is evolving.