Operation Sindoor: Cross-border chats, e-mails post May 7 under scanner; agencies probe Pakistan, terror links

Central intelligence agencies have begun tracking cross-border conversations, chats, emails and messages exchanged after May 7 - the day Operation Sindoor was launched - between persons in J&K and other border states, and elements based in Pakistan.

Image Credit: BJP's X handle

In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor — India's precision strikes targeting nine major terror strongholds across Pakistan and PoK— India’s central intelligence agencies have launched a surveillance operation to track digital chatter between individuals in Jammu & Kashmir, other sensitive border states, and operatives across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan.

Security sources have revealed that communications transmitted post-May 7 — the day Operation Sindoor was initiated — are now under intense scrutiny. Encrypted chats, emails, messages, and social media interactions are being combed through to unearth terror collaborators or “traitors” who may have provided moral or logistical backing to Pakistan-based jihadi factions and the notorious ISI.

“All those found to have been in touch with terrorists, terror outfits, and ISI etc after May 7 will be closely watched and, if need be, detained for questioning regarding their likely terror linkages and sympathies, besides other motives," a senior officer of the Central security establishment shared with Times of India (TOI) on Tuesday.

TOI sources confirmed that this technological dragnet spans all communication platforms — from routine phone calls to highly encrypted social media channels to determine whether sympathisers on Indian soil reached out to their Pakistani handlers as the precision offensive unfolded.

Investigators are particularly focused on whether individuals in J&K and other bordering states may have leaked classified information, such as troop deployment data, to Pakistan-based handlers or extended their reach to exfiltrated relatives now aligned with terror networks across the border.

“This exercise will help the agencies investigate the larger but still invisible overground workers’ (OGW) network in J&K and beyond. The terror support cells and the still-unmapped OGW network on the Indian side will come under the radar thanks to their conversations during Operation Sindoor, with Pakistan-based elements. This will give NIA and J&K SIA a whiff of the likely terror conspiracies they may be planning on the directions of their Pakistani terror masterminds and ISI," said an officer.

Another top official added that legal and punitive actions could extend beyond mere detentions. “The law enforcement agencies can thus take action to not only prosecute them for endangering national security, but also deny their families benefits/amenities including govt jobs and police clearance for passports, etc," a second officer told TOI.