Security personnel at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport went into a tizzy when a 28-year-old Irish national was detained at the Airport on August 14, a day before the Independence Day with a satellite phone, a device which is prohibited in India and can be used by terrorists, police said on Tuesday.
"Since satellite phones are prohibited in India, we took action against the accused identified as Pattrick O Connor He had come to India to visit leh ladakh," Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI, Airport Sanjay Bhatia told The Pioneer.
The accused was produced before a Delhi court to pay fine as is the norm in such cases. A Kalandra under section 6 of the Indian Wireless Act was registered as a diary entry in the IGI Domestic Airport Police station against the accused.
The official said the accused was not aware that satellite phones are not allowed, except on special permission, in India.
" He got the satellite phone with him in order to keep in touch with his relatives and to use internet in places where there is no connectivity. The phone can be used during trekking or at high altitudes where there is no connectivity,” said the police officer.
Investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 had revealed that terrorists used both satellite and cellular phones to coordinate the operation and carry out the deadly attacks in which 200 people were killed.
A satellite phone, popularly known as the sat phone, is a mobile phone which uses satellites, not landline or cellular broadcasting towers, to make or receive calls.
While making or receiving a call, the signal first travels to the orbiting satellite and then to an earth-bound gateway, before being routed to the receiver. The receiver's response will follow the same path in reverse, taking an equal amount of time to reach the caller.