Srinagar, Dec 07: The recently introduced mobile phone service has proved to be helpful during anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, a top police official said. The mobile phones have been helpful during anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir. "It has improved our communication network," Director General of Police Gopal Sharma told reporters here yesterday.

During an encounter with militants in Jammu recently, the police effectively used the mobile phones in the operation in which two militants were killed, he said.

Militants had taken refuge in the vast forest area and remaining in touch through wireless sets is not easy. Mobile phones came in handy for directing the operations and for the officers to stay in touch with each other, he added. Sharma said the mobile telephones had been instrumental in rescue of civilians from the encounter sites at Greenway Hotel (August 27) and Ali Jan Shopping Complex (October 17).

"One of the civilians trapped inside the shopping complex had a mobile phone which helped us in reaching and successfully evacuating them," the DGP said.

The mobile service was deficient in Kashmir as compared to other parts of the country, Sharma said, adding the service could improve in the Valley.

Bureau Report