Beware of bogus Pakistan messages via Facebook, WhatsApp honeytraps!
Villagers, top police officials informed, that they have been told to stay on guard against suspect phone calls, WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts and messages.
Spies from Pakistan may vigorously use social media and honeytraps to collect intelligence from border villages as tensions sour with India, residents living along the international boundary have been warned.
In Rajasthan's Barmer district, authorities are holding public camps to raise awareness about various tactics the rogues from the neighbouring country may deploy to obtain sensitive information.
Villagers and top police officials told India Today, that they were warned against suspicious phone calls, SMSs, WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts.
“We are fully cooperating with authorities and spreading this warning across to our friends and neighbours not to share any information about the security situation or any other sensitive matter on social sites,” said Vijay, a villager.
According to district police chief Gagandeep Singla, officials of various government departments have been warned about possible Pakistani attempts to secure intelligence through what may appear to be innocuous phone calls and Facebook messages.
Spies on the other side of the border may also try to honeytrap young men here, cautioned a senior administrator.
Female Pakistani agents can lure vulnerable targets into revealing security-related information via social sites, said Jitendra Singh, a sub-divisional magistrate in Barmer.
Authorities are also on a high alert for malicious propaganda Pakistanis may unleash on mobile messaging applications and bogus emails to trigger communal unrest.
Top police officials have appealed to the people not to get swayed by rumours and reckless WhatsApp messages and emails.
At Sri Ganganagar, also in Rajasthan, the BSF was seen mounting a foot patrol along the tall border fences separating India and Pakistan.
For residents, it was a routine day.
Farmers were sowing the crops and schoolchildren attending class as usual.
“We want peace. But if Pakistan didn't stop terror, India will lose its patience,” said a young local farmer. “Pakistan will suffer most if India hits back at it.”
India Today also visited villages of Pathankot, a border district in Punjab.
In quiet fields, farmers were seen reaping the harvest with sickles.
Many of them were angry and anxious.
“Let there be a decisive war. But before that, people like us living in these villages should be shifted to safer places,” said a woman resident.
A male farmer told India Today that people working in fields faced hostilities from Pakistani border guards when tensions spiral.
“That's a terrorist country. Let there be a war,” he said. The farmer, however, also urged authorities to ensure safety of border residents in the event of any escalation.
