Cops against complete restoration of SMS facility

Tribune News Service

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Srinagar, December 15

Even as the SMS service has been restored partially in Jammu and Kashmir, the UT police have sent an unfavourable report to the Ministry of Home Affairs for resuming the bulk SMS services completely.

The J&K Police fear that user-to-user SMS service will come handy in the elements inimical to peace in Kashmir.

“We don’t want to take chances to allow anti-national elements to disturb the peaceful atmosphere achieved in past four months,” said a police senior official. “People have to wait for some more time for the restoration of the SMS service,” he said.

He said the country’s top cellular companies Airtel and Jio had approached the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the first week of December to seek restoration of SMS service in Kashmir.

The MHA asked the J&K Police to submit a security assessment report if the SMS service is restored.

However, the police in its report rejected the plea of cellular companies, saying time was not right to restore the service.

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have restored the SMS service partially as people on December 10 started receiving machine-based “One Time Passwords (OTPs)” meant for online businesses.

The resumption of service messages is seen as a great help by the general public, especially business persons, who receive service messages from banks and other online usage.

Phone connectivity and internet services were blocked on August 5 in the wake of abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Mobile phones in Kashmir buzzed back to life after a gap of 72 days on October 14, but SMS facilities were stopped within a few hours.

Over 25 lakh prepaid mobile phones and internet services, including WhatsApp, remain deactivated for now, officials said.

On September 4, nearly 50,000 landlines were declared operational.

In Jammu, communication was restored within days of the blockade and mobile internet restarted around mid-August. However, after its misuse, internet facility on cell phones was snapped on August 18.