Starlink-like antenna, router seized from Meitei insurgent group in Manipur: Reports

A Starlink dish and router were seized from a Meitei insurgent group in Manipur, raising concerns about internet use by insurgents during blackouts. While Starlink is not operational in India, the discovery raises questions about how the technology was obtained and potentially utilized.

In a first, a Starlink dish and router have been seized allegedly from a Meitei insurgent group in Manipur, raising concerns over the use of the internet by insurgents to coordinate attacks and communicate tactical information even during times of internet blackout, reports have said. According to reports, a Starlink gadget in the hands of militants in India does not necessarily indicate that it can be used there.

The first and biggest satellite constellation in the world, Starlink is owned by billionaire Elon Musk's aerospace business SpaceX. It uses a low Earth orbit to provide broadband internet anywhere in the world where the service has a licence to operate. Although the American corporation has requested for regulatory authorisation, Starlink is not available in India.

Elon Musk in a post on X said Starlink doesn't operate in India. "This is false. Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India," he said.

On December 13, a combined security force squad discovered the Starlink dish and router in Khunou, Imphal East district, along with an MA4 assault weapon, grenades, and ammunition. "Internet satellite antenna and internet satellite router" is what the cops called the gadget.

Images of a combined operation conducted by the Assam Rifles and the Manipur Police in the hill and valley areas of Churachandpur, Chandel, Imphal East, and Kangpokpi were also shared by the Indian Army's Spear Corps on X.

One of the visuals shows a white, rectangular dish and a router with the Starlink logo on it. The acronyms "RPF/PLA" are visible on the router in this photo.

The Spear Corps further said 29 weapons comprising snipers, automatic weapons, rifles, pistols, country-made mortars, single barrel rifles, grenades, ammunition and war-like stores were recovered in the operation.

One of the eight Meitei separatist organisations that the Union Home Ministry has designated as prohibited is the People's Liberation Army (PLA), whose political wing is the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF).