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VoIP calls by Kalyan youths fox investigators
Sep 22, 2014, 04.39AM IST
KALYAN: Six months after four youths from Kalyan allegedly joined militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), security agency officials have expressed helplessness at having to depend totally on families of the three surviving youths for every scrap of information. This, said the officials, is because most calls made by the three youths believed to be in Raqqa city in Syria, were through Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP to avoid being snooped upon by security agencies.

An officer claimed that calls made through VoIP are unlike those made by the usual cellphone as the latter can be easily tracked down through surveillance. "VoIP calls do not carry a number, making it almost impossible to track down the caller's location. At the call recipient's end, the originating location may, for instance, show Syria although the call could have originated from another country altogether," the officer said on condition of anonymity. What compounds the problem for security agencies is the complete absence of intelligence input from Raqqa. "Intel from that part is almost zero now since it is totally under the control of ISIS," added the officer.

A senior official of the Anti-Terrorism Squad said that all the four youngsters are well educated and are aware that using VOIP technology to make calls has its advantages in evading investigators who could be tailing them. "Precisely the reason they have chosen to make use of VoIP," said this senior official.
Other sources said that the fourth youth Aarif Majid, who is believed to have been killed in an aerial attack in Syria, had made calls to his parents from a cellphone. Subsequently, when investigators tried to contact that number, it was 'switched off'.

The only solace for the officials is that the families of the four youths have been "fully cooperating" with investigators. "They have even been told to coax and cajole the three youngsters to return home," said the senior official. TOI had reported recently that one of the three surviving youths had called up to say that all three were planning to return to India. Investigators are keen that the trio returns so that all those responsible for prodding them to join ISIS could be identified.

With the three youths now incommunicado, it is not just the investigators but their families too are worried about their whereabouts and well-being. A close relative of one of the surviving youths, Shaeem Tanki, said that when the Tanki family learnt about the death of one of the youths who had left with them, the family was worried. "Matters worsened as there was no call from any of them for at least 10 days. Now, it is not possible to contact him as he has been using VoIP technology to make calls," this relative told TOI. "Besides, we cannot alert investigators in time as there is no fixed time at which he calls."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/VoIP-calls-by-Kalyan-youths-fox-investigators/articleshow/43120109.cms