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Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon
Scientific investigations have come to the conclusion that some kind of a lethal sound weapon is responsible for creating the phenomenon dubbed as ‘Havana Syndrome’
Many nations are experimenting on inducting unique types of weapons, different from conventional weapons. When strange and unexplained occurrences take place, investigations are launched to probe and determine what happened.
‘Havana syndrome’ refers to a set of medical symptoms with unknown causes experienced by U.S. government officials and military personnel. The symptoms range in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive difficulties and were first reported in 2016 by U.S. and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba. Beginning in 2017, more people, including U.S. intelligence and military personnel and their families, reported having these symptoms in other places, such as China, and Europe. What began with a dozen complaints in Havana in 2016 rose to 130 reports by 2021?
The phenomenon of Havana syndrome has acquired mythical qualities in its telling. In late 2016 and early 2017, members of the American embassy in Havana, Cuba, started to report debilitating symptoms and strange occurrences. An incapacitating sound, often coming from a single direction, was heard by some officials, waking them up in the middle of the night. A sensation of intense pressure was felt in the ear. Vertigo and nausea were some of the early symptoms. Then came the difficulty in concentrating, memory problems, and sleep disturbances in some of the victims.
Members of the Canadian embassy also encountered similar issues, and started referring to it as an “attack.” Meticulous scientific probing and analysis came to a strange conclusion that some sort of secret sonic weapons and microwave beams could have caused these strange symptoms. Accusations were levelled at Cuba, Russia, and China, for having launched strange weapons and experimenting on Western diplomats.
Similar symptoms experienced by diplomats, began to be reported in Australia, China, Austria, and a suburb of Washington D.C. Recently, U.S. vice-president Kamala Harris’ trip from Singapore to Vietnam on August 24th 2021 was delayed by several hours due to an investigation into two suspected cases of Havana syndrome in Hanoi.
Scientific investigations have come to the conclusion that some kind of a lethal sound weapon is responsible for creating the phenomenon dubbed as ‘Havana Syndrome’
The power of sound has been well known to ancient Hindus. Hindu holy scriptures have expounded on the power of sound in great depth.
OM the powerful syllable, represents the collective sound of the Universe, the Primordial Sound. OM, therefore, is said to contain within it all the mantras, sounds, and vibrations of the Universe. Everything in the Universe is a manifestation of OM.
Sound was classified by ancient Hindus into two distinct categories:
• un-struck/un-heard sound
• Struck/heard sound. These are sounds that we hear in nature or man-made sounds, musical, and non-musical.
Un-struck sound is the vibration of ether, the upper or purer air near the celestial realm. The enlightened Hindu Yogis seek the unstruck sound called “Anahata Nada”, which they could distinctly identify, to attain Samadhi.
In the Ramayan and Mahabharat epics, there are specific references to a class of weapons called ‘Astra’ that can be activated only by uttering specific sounds in a particular manner, and known only to a single user.
The second category of weapons were the ‘Shastra’ – Physical Weapons, used by standard warrior forces.
The Astra–weapons that are activated by secret sounds or divine mantras, are the earliest examples of voice-activated weapons, of immense destructive powers, which were handled only by a single user. This is akin to our present system of using “Password”, the identity of which is known only to the user. Also, it is very similar to the modern deployment of nuclear weapons, which needs to be authorised and activated by the Prime Minister himself, by pressing the nuclear button.
The “nuclear button” is a figurative term referring to the power to use nuclear weapons. Countries having nuclear weapons have ‘nuclear briefcases’ that accompany the leader (such as the president of the United States), allowing them to launch nuclear missiles at any time. In the days to come sound activated passwords may replace the nuclear button. What would be of interest to modern security-specialists and warfare observers is that during the period of Ramayana and Mahabharata, many thousand of years ago, there are specific references to the use of sound-activated weapons.
During one of my official visits to USA, I had a chance meeting with a US scientist working in a defence laboratory, and in the course of a casual conversation he was mentioning “Good that you Indians are not teaching the Mahabharat and Ramayan, in schools and colleges, for they are full of references to strange weapons that closely resemble modern nuclear weapons and missiles.” It is a standard technique of missionaries and evangelists to vilify the holy scriptures of other religions as ‘mythology’, but the tragedy is that the Hindu intelligentsia accepted this label without any demur.
Even to this day it is mindlessly used as a prefix before any title of Hindu holy scriptures, or a pejorative term ‘Hindu mythology’ is used condescendingly. If only our politicians, educationists and thinkers, liberate themselves from this prejudiced morass, and prescribe the original Sanskrit written epics, for study in schools and colleges, young minds can open up to a new world of inspired thinking, that can make them do extraordinary things. Inspirational beliefs and events contained in Ramayan and Mahabharat can generate and inspire pathbreaking possibility thinking and innovation trajectories.
Sound can kill in multiple ways. Within the human hearing frequency range (between 20 and 20,000 Hz), high-intensity sounds above 150 decibels can burst the eardrums, while sounds above 185 decibels can impact the inner organs and cause death.
Many nations are experimenting on Sonic and Ultrasonic weapons (USW) that use sound to injure or incapacitate an opponent. Sonic weapons are designed to make a focused beam of sound or an ultrasound. Other weapons are on the anvil that can produce an area field of sound. As of 2021 a select few military and police forces make some limited use of sonic weapons.
The New York Police use a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), a sound cannon that emits dangerously loud, high-pitched frequencies. The device, which is fired on crowds rather than individuals, is very powerful, causing intense pain, migraines, and lasting hearing damage. The device projects concentrated sound waves across a 30- to 45-degree radius, prompting those in its range to cover their ears or flee.
Infrasound, meaning sound waves below the threshold of what humans can hear, typically below 20 Hertz while at the other end of the spectrum, above the human hearing threshold of 20,000 Hz, there are Ultrasound, are being explored to create a new class of weapons.
Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) use sound to inflict causalities on human targets. Havana Syndrome victims may have been exposed to a high-intensity burst of energy or sound waves or high-intensity microwaves. An assessment of Havana embassy victims by the National Academies of Science in 2020 said “directed, pulsed Radio Frequency energy” was the “most plausible” primary source of those injuries. Extremely high-power sound waves can disrupt and/or destroy the eardrums of a target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. Less powerful sound waves can cause humans to experience nausea or discomfort. The use of these frequencies to incapacitate persons has occurred both in counter-terrorist and crowd control settings.
However, there is also speculation that the sound waves could have come from a light wave, specifically a microwave. Microwaves are lower in frequency than visible light and infrared, but above radio waves on the light spectrum. Yet a strange phenomenon tied to microwaves has baffled investigators. In 1962, Allan H. Frey published a paper in which he described a situation in which microwaves, which are not sound waves, were heard by humans. His participants could hear these waves as coming from within or right behind their own head. The sound was described as being a buzz, clicking, hiss, or knocking. There is a possibility that Havana syndrome victims might have been zapped by a secret microwave weapon and the strange sound they heard was the buzzing noise of the Frey Effect.
In another incident that occurred in January 2021, four US diplomats working in Geneva and Paris fell ill with symptoms typical of “Havana syndrome. The possibility of ‘Microwave Weapons’ having been used on the diplomats is being scientifically studied and evaluated.
The Chinese PLA are suspected to have used ‘Microwave Weapons’ against Indian Soldiers in Ladakh in the ongoing conflict. The Chinese military is suspected to have used “high-energy electromagnetic radiation” technology to effectively turn “two strategic hilltops that had been occupied by Indian soldiers into a microwave oven”. The attack, it is claimed, left the Indian troops “vomiting” and unable to stand within 15 minutes, enabling the People’s Liberation Army to “retake two strategically important hilltops in the Himalayas without any exchange of live fire”, according to Jin Canrong, a professor of International Relations at China’s Renmin University. The academic told attendees at a recent lecture that China didn’t publicise the victory, in late August, “because we solved the problem beautifully”. “They [India] didn’t publicise it, either, because they lost so miserably,” he added.
The Indian Ministry of Defense in its year-end review of 2020 has mentioned the use of “unorthodox weapons” by the People’s Liberation Army along the LAC, where the two militaries are locked in a standoff.
Grey zone warfare, in which conflict remains just under the level of shooting war, is a new feature of the 21st century.
The Chinese by using “unorthodox weapons”, may be having an edge in this type of innovative warfare. According to media reports, several countries have developed microwave weapons. China had displayed its microwave weapon Poly WB-1 public in 2014 during an air show. The US has also developed a similar weapon called Active Denial System (ADS) which is a non-lethal directed-energy weapon designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control. Informally, the weapon is also called the heat ray since it works by heating the surface of targets, such as the skin of targeted human beings.
These types of new and “unorthodox” weapons open a new dimension not only in warfare but also in internal security. India is plagued by internal dissensions, which are funded and coordinated by foreign intelligence and religious agencies. Advent of “unorthodox weapons” will be an immense new challenge for security agencies. The nation recently witnessed the sorry spectacle of the Prime Minister stranded helplessly on a flyover in the sensitive State of Punjab. The security agencies were totally flummoxed and at a loss as to what to do. Imagine, if not an assassination bid, an attempt using “unorthodox weapons” would have caused utter chaos and violent mayhem. Sensitive elections are coming up in five States next month. These types of “unorthodox weapons” can disrupt any election meeting, disrupt any leader’s election speeches. Security agencies need to upgrade their counter strategies and defensive measures to successfully thwart any mischief maker.
The author Dr G Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd) Ph. D (Narcotics), is
Dr G Shreekumar Menon can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com
“If as a matter of fact, fraud as projected by Antrix, stands established, the motive behind the victim of fraud, coming up with a petition for winding up, is of no relevance. If the seeds of the commercial relationship between Antrix and Devas were a product of fraud perpetrated by Devas, every part of the plant that grew out of those seeds, such as the Agreement, the disputes, arbitral awards etc., are all infected with the poison of fraud. A product of fraud is in conflict with the public policy of any country including India.” – Supreme Court of India
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A day after the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition challenging the concurrent orders of NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) to shut down Devas Multimedia Private Limited, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a press conference said on Tuesday 18 January that the deal between ISRO`s commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia that was signed in 2005 under the Congress-party led government was a fraud and has caused massive damage to the exchequer.
The Finance Minister said the satellite deal between ISRO`s commercial arm Antrix and Devas Multimedia signed in 2005 was a fraud against the country.
The Supreme Court has observed ” …allowing Devas and its shareholders to reap the benefits of their fraudulent action, may nevertheless send another wrong message namely that by adopting fraudulent means and by bringing into India an investment in a sum of INR 579 crores, the investors can hope to get tens of thousands of crores of rupees, even after siphoning off INR 488 crores.”
With this in focus, the central Government also should inform the people of India the exact amount, in hundreds of crores, that has been paid and also the names of the law firms that have received this money as fees to represent ANTRIX in the Antrix-Devas case in India and abroad.
A two Judge Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice V Ramasubramanian has said in its order in response to a petition by Devas Multimedia Private Limited: “We do not know if the action of Antrix in seeking the winding up of Devas may send a wrong message, to the community of investors. But allowing Devas and its shareholders to reap the benefits of their fraudulent action, may nevertheless send another wrong message namely that by adopting fraudulent means and by bringing into India an investment in a sum of INR 579 crores, the investors can hope to get tens of thousands of crores of rupees, even after siphoning off INR 488 crores.
Senior Counsel Mukul Rohtagi appeared for Devas Multimedia – the company in liquidation; Senior Counsel Arvind P. Datar, appeared for the shareholderappellant; and Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman appeared for Antrix Corporation Limited.
The apex cort has observed: “If as a matter of fact, fraud as projected by Antrix, stands established, the motive behind the victim of fraud, coming up with a petition for winding up, is of no relevance. If the seeds of the commercial relationship between Antrix and Devas were a product of fraud perpetrated by Devas, every part of the plant that grew out of those seeds, such as the Agreement, the disputes, arbitral awards etc., are all infected with the poison of fraud. A product of fraud is in conflict with the public policy of any country including India. The basic notions of morality and justice are always in conflict with fraud and hence the motive behind the action brought by the victim of fraud can never stand as an impediment.” This observation came, especially in reponse to the contention that the actual motive behind Antrix seeking the winding up of Devas, is to deprive Devas, of the benefits of an unanimous award passed by the ICC Arbitral tribunal presided over by a former Chief Justice of India and the two BIT awards and that such attempts on the part of a corporate entity wholly owned by the Government of India would send a wrong message to international investors.
Another contention raised on behalf of the appellants was that the criminal complaint filed for the offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 120B IPC, has not yet been taken to its logical end. Therefore, it is contended that in case the officials of Antrix and shareholders of Devas are acquitted after trial, the clock cannot be put back, if the company is now wound up. The Supreme Court has said – “Attractive as it may seem at first blush, this contention cannot hold water, if scrutinised a little deeper. The standard of proof required in a criminal case is different from the standard of proof required in the proceedings before NCLT. The outcome of one need not depend upon the outcome of the other, as the consequences are civil under the Companies Act, 2013 and penal in the criminal proceedings. Moreover, this argument can be reversed like the handle of a dagger. What if the company is allowed to continue to exist and also enforce the arbitration awards for amounts totaling to tens of thousands of crores of Indian Rupees (The ICC award is stated to be for INR 10,000 crores and the 2 BIT awards are stated to be for INR 5,000 crores) and eventually the Criminal Court finds all shareholders guilty of fraud? The answer to this question would be abhorring.
The apex Court order points out that the officials of the Department of Space and Antrix were in collusion and that it was a case of fence eating the crop (and also allowing others to eat the crop), by joining hands with third parties, is borne out by the fact that the Note of the 104th Space Commission did not contain a reference to the Agreement. The Cabinet Note dated 17 November 2005 prepared after ten months of signing of the Agreement, did not make a mention about Devas or the Agreement, but proceeded on the basis as though ISRO received several Expressions of Interest. These materials show the complicity of the officials to allow Devas to have unjust enrichment.
Also it is on record that the minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee dated 6 January 2009 were manipulated and the experimental license was granted on 7 May 2009. Only thereafter, the original minutes were restored on 20 November 2009 and that too after protest.
Supreme Court has underscored in its order that SATCOM Policy perceived telecommunication and broadcasting services to be independent of each other and also mutually exclusive. Therefore, a combination of both was not permitted by law. It is especially so since no deliberation took place with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Moreover, unless ICC allocates space segment, to a private player, the same becomes unlawful. This is why the conduct of the affairs of the company became unlawful.
Supreme Court of India has said that the kind of licenses obtained such as ISP and IPTV licenses and the object for which FIPB approvals were taken but showcased as those sufficient for fulfilling the obligations under the Agreement pf 28 January 2005 demonstrated that the affairs of the company were conducted in a fraudulent manner. This is fortified by the fact that a total amount of Rs.579 crores was brought in, but almost 85% of the said amount was siphoned out of India partly towards establishment of a subsidiary in the US, partly towards business support services and partly towards litigation expenses. We do not know if the amount of Rs.233 crores taken out of India towards litigation services, also became a part of the investment in a more productive venture, namely, arbitration. The manner in which a misleading note was put to the cabinet and the manner in which the minutes of the meeting of
TAG subcommittee were manipulated, highlighted by the Tribunal, also shows that the affairs of the company were conducted in a fraudulent manner. Thus, the second limb of Section 271(c), namely, the conduct of the affairs of the company in a fraudulent manner, also stood established. [ Click for Supreme Court order ]
Backgound of the case
Antrix Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as Antrix), incorporated on 28 September 1992 under the Companies Act, 1956, is the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is wholly owned by the Government of India and coming under the administrative control of the Department of Space.
On 28 July 2003, Antrix entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Forge Advisors, LLC, a Virginia Corporation. The intent, as spelt out in the MOU, was to make both parties become “strong and vital partners in evaluating and implementing major new satellite applications across diverse sectors including agriculture, education, media and telecommunications”. Apart from other things, the MOU contemplated Forge Advisors to provide a broad array of advisory services that included near-term tactical projects in the areas of sales, marketing, business development, strategic partnership negotiations and other related business areas and long term projects in the areas of corporate strategy, market opportunity assessment, business case development for new services, launch of new application services etc.
On 22 March 2004, Forge Advisors made a presentation proposing an Indian joint venture, to launch what came to be known as “DEVAS” (Digitally Enhanced Video and Audio Services). It was projected in the said proposal that DEVAS platform will be capable of delivering multimedia and information services via satellite to mobile devices tailored to the needs of various market segments such as (i) consumer segment, comprising of entertainment and information services to digital multimedia consoles in cars and vehicles; (ii) commercial segment, comprising of high value information services to Commercial Information Devices in commercial transport vehicles; and (iii) social segment, comprising of Developmental Information Services to Rural Information kiosks in underserved areas.
The presentation on 22 March 2004 was followed by a proposal on 15 April 2004. The proposal was to form “a strategic partnership to launch DEVAS, a new service that delivers video, multimedia and information services via satellite to mobile receivers in vehicles and mobile phones across India”. The proposal of 15 April 2004 indicated that DEVAS was conceived as a new National Service, expected to be launched by the end of 2006, that would deliver video, multimedia and information services via satellite to mobile receivers in vehicles and mobile phones across India. The proposal contemplated the formation of a joint venture and an obligation on the part of ISRO and Antrix to invest in one operational SBand satellite with a ground space segment to be leased to the joint venture. In return, ISRO and Antrix were to receive lease payments of USD 11 million annually for a period of 15 years.
The concept of DEVAS, as indicated in the penultimate paragraph of the Executive Summary of the proposal of 15 April 2004, was based upon the evolution and performance of similar services in other markets such as XM Radio and Sirius Radio in the United States and Mobile Broadcasting Corporation’s multimedia services via satellite in Korea and Japan.
After this proposal several meetings were held between the representatives of Forge and ISRO/Antrix and a Committee headed by one Dr. K.N. Shankara, Director of SAC (Space Application Centre) was constituted to examine the proposal.
On 17 December 2004 Devas Multimedia Private Limited, (the ‘company in liquidation’) was incorporated as a private company under the Companies Act,1956. Immediately thereafter, Antrix entered into an Agreement with this company on 28 January 2005. The Agreement was titled as “Agreement for the lease of space segment capacity on ISRO/Antrix S Band spacecraft by DEVAS”. The preamble of the Agreement stated that Devas was developing a platform capable of delivering multimedia and information services via satellite and terrestrial system to mobile receivers, tailored to the needs of various market segments and that Devas had, therefore, requested Antrix, space segment capacity for the purpose of offering SDMB service, a new digital multimedia and information service, including but not limited to audio and video content and information interactive services, across India that will be delivered via satellite and terrestrial system via fixed, portable mobile receivers including mobile phones, mobile video/audio receivers for vehicles etc.. What was to be leased out by Antrix to Devas was 5 numbers of C X S transponders each of 8.1 MHz capacity and 5 numbers of S X C transponders each of 2.7 MHz capacity on the Primary Satellite 1 (PS1). The leased capacity was agreed to be delivered by Antrix to Devas from a fully operational and ready PS1 within 30 months of the agreement, with a further grace period of six months.
The agreement contained provisions for the termination of the Agreement by either of the parties, with certain consequences to one or the other, depending upon the circumstances under which termination was made.
Devas obtained approvals from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) during the period May 2006 to September 2009. Subsequently, Devas brought into India, an investment of about INR 579 crores. Devas also obtained an Internet Service Provider (ISP) License from the Department of Telecommunications on 2 May 2008.
Devas then obtained permission from the Department of Telecommunications on 31 March 2009 for providing Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) Services within the scope of the terms and conditions of ISP license. Devas claims to have conducted experiments on the emerging technologies for satellite and terrestrial system in September 2009.
However the Agreement of 28 January 2005 was terminated by Antrix by a Communication dated 25 February 2011.
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Dr G Shreekumar Menon
In recent years, enforcement agencies in Greece, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and elsewhere have seized hundreds of millions of pills, of a drug called Captagon, most of them originating from one government-controlled port in Syria, some in hauls whose street value exceed more than $1 billion.
33 million Captagon pills were seized in Piraeus, Greece, on June 26, 2019. Italian law enforcement officers seized 14 tons of Captagon, about 84 million pills, at the port of Salerno in the year 2020, hidden in huge rolls of paper and metal gears. 35 million Captagon pills were seized in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Feb. 13, 2020. Malaysia reported a seizure of 95 million Captagon pills seized at Port Klang, Malaysia, on March 24 2021, sealed inside rubber trolley wheels. It is estimated that around 250 million Captagon pills have been seized during 2020-21. These seizures might represent only a fraction of the drugs shipped, drug experts say. But they provide a window into the vast scope of the new drug trade, and the newest player in the market – Syria.
Captagon manufacture in Syria is a multibillion-dollar industry comprising workshops that manufacture the drugs, packaging industry that readies the contraband for export and a well-oiled smuggling network that extends its operations into different countries in West Asia, Europe and parts of South East Asia. Clandestine manufacture of Captagon is suspected in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, which is a hub of hashish production and a stronghold of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. Users in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries use it recreationally to get an energy boost, banish fear and as a party-drug for sexual stimulation.
While the pharmaceutical Captagon contains the Amphetamine – Fenethylline, the illicit version sold in the grey market is a mix of Amphetamines, Caffeine and various fillers. When the Syrian war broke out, smugglers sold the drug to fighters on all sides, who took it to bolster their courage in battle.
Simultaneously it also gained popularity as a preferred entertainment medication amongst upscale young people in the Middle East. This “brand-new age” Captagon, creates irreversible adjustments in brain circuitry that govern impulse control and also judgment, removing an individual’s capability to reason or believe reasonably.
Captagon was touted by the media as “The Amphetamine Fuelling Syria’s War” or “The Jihadists’ Drug”. Captagon remains in the family of medications called amphetamines. These medications are human-made but are chemically associated with all-natural neurotransmitters like dopamine and epinephrine (also known as adrenaline). When a person takes Captagon, their metabolic rate breaks the medication down to amphetamine itself, as well as to theophylline, a molecule that naturally takes place in percentages in tea which additionally has heart stimulating activity.
Amphetamine stimulates the central nerves, enhancing performance, enhancing focus as well as physical efficiency, and also offering a feeling of health, and not to really feel weary or hungry. But, three to six months of consumption of Captagon, reportedly destroys millions of brain cells.
Captagon pills and sex are closely related. Many traders promote Captagon pills as a powerful sexual stimulant that helps to reach heightened orgasm during intercourse. It helps not to feel tired so it prolongs the period of intimacy. In the sexual enslavement of thousands of Yazidi girls, Captagon was used extensively by the ISIS terrorists, to brutalise and violently rape young Yazidi girls.
Captagon’s reputation multiplied by leaps and bounds after media reports that it was responsible for fuelling the Syrian civil war by creating crazed super-soldiers who did not need to sleep for up to 48 hours, become violent, crazy, paranoid, and unafraid of anything. They lose any feeling or empathy and kill without mercy, including imperviousness to pain and violence, and craze for indiscriminating bloodlust.
The Syrian Army’s Fourth Armoured Division, an elite unit is suspected to be supervising the production and distribution of Captagon. The finished pills are hidden in false bottoms in shipping containers; packages of milk, tea and soap; and shipments of grapes, oranges or pomegranates. Then they are smuggled overland to Jordan and Lebanon, where some leave via Beirut’s air and seaports. The largest portion leave Syria from the Mediterranean port of Latakia.
Since 2015, drug enforcement agencies have found Captagon in the private jet of a Saudi prince, hidden in oil filters for trucks and machines for making tiles, mixed in with shipments of grapes and oranges, and stuffed inside plastic potatoes hidden in a shipment of real potatoes. Smugglers have buried the drugs with coffee and spices to confuse sniffer dogs and sealed them inside of lead bars and giant rocks to block scanners. Captagon has been seized in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, in the ports of Egypt, Greece and Italy, in an airport in France and as far away as Germany, Romania and Malaysia.
Saudi Arabia, the largest market, for Captagon, detected the drug in packets of tea and sewn into the linings of clothes. After the Saudi authorities discovered more than five million pills hidden inside hollowed out pomegranates shipped from Beirut, they banned produce from Lebanon. In 2017, Anti-narcotics forces in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, foiled the smuggling of 644,000 Captagon pills. The drug consignment, which was coming from Tabuk and heading for Jeddah, was intercepted in Madinah and the alleged smuggler arrested.
Recently, in November 2021, Turkish Customs teams confiscated more than a ton of Captagon drug pills at the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun in southern Turkey. It was reported to be the biggest seizure of its kind with a total of 1,072 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of Captagon drugs, more than 6.2 million pills. The contraband, worth over $37 million, was found hidden in 17 containers brought to the port for transit to the United Arab Emirates. The 17 containers were filled with stones typically used for decoration purposes. Narcotics detection dogs inspecting the cargo reacted to the stones and aroused the suspicions of Customs officials. Stones that were suspected of containing drugs were broken and were found to have hidden transparent packages filled with narcotics pills. Customs Officials took several samples from different containers and stones, analysed them with handheld material identification devices.
The handheld integrated Raman and FTIR spectroscopy instruments that were used are capable of identifying more than 14,500 individual substances, solids and liquids from narcotics to explosives and chemical warfare agents to industrial chemicals and precursors. The Raman technology enables a user to conduct non-contact and non-destructive analysis of samples in transparent and translucent containers without the need to open them and manipulate each sample, thus increasing user safety. Conversely, although FTIR spectroscopy requires direct contact analysis, it is more efficient and safer when identifying dark-coloured substances such as black tar heroin. It also has fewer chemical limitations and performs better on substances that suffer from very high levels of fluorescence, which sometimes obscures Raman spectra. Both technologies were used to complement each other as well as confirm results obtained by each other.
In India also, Captagon seizure was effected on September 3, 2016, by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Hyderabad. They recovered 230 kg of Amphetamine. It was one of the biggest drug busts of Hyderabad. The drug was supposed to be smuggled via Chennai port or Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to Southeast Asia. From there, it would find its way to Syria, for use by ISIS fighters.
In the light of the new evidence identifying Syria as a major production and distribution hub of Captagon, India needs to maintain high degree of vigil on the Western maritime border as also on the sensitive Kashmir border with Pakistan.
The author Dr G Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd) Ph. D (Narcotics), is
Dr G Shreekumar Menon can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com
Dr G Shreekumar Menon
Pakistan’s one-day cricket victory match over India in the T20 World Cup, in October 2021 at Dubai, saw wild celebration by students in Kashmir. FIR filed by the Police states that during the “intervening night of 24 and 25 October 2021 after Pakistan’s one-day cricket match victory, students pursuing MBBS and other degrees residing in the un-married hostel of SKIMS Soura raised slogans and burst firecrackers”. It says that in this connection, a case was registered under section 13 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 105A and 505 IPC.
An FIR has also been filed under section 13 of the UAPA at the Karan Nagar police station, against the students of the Government Medical College for “crying and dancing last evening after Pakistan won the World Cup T20 match against India”. The FIRs are open and the accused are yet to be identified.
There has been an outrage across India against this unpatriotic demeanour of the students, especially when they are the recipients of State largesse. It is the taxpayers hard earned money that is being showered on undeserving recipients.
Pakistan’s designs on Kashmir started from day one of the obnoxious Partition cobbled up by gullible politicians and the inchoate Indian democracy plunged into mindless violence ever since. The Indo-Pak war of 1947-48, resulted in Pakistan occupying a large chunk of Kashmir, presently known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), and the realigned border came to be known as the Line of Control. Literally, India’s head was chopped, and this disfigured visage continues to be embedded in the map of India till date.Indians keep dreaming of reclaiming POK, while Pakistan wants to annex the entire Kashmir, using the name of Islam, and support of Islamic countries.
If Kashmir is annexed it will be like beheading India.It is an indubitable fact that Kashmir has been mollycoddled and pampered no end by successive Governments at Delhi for the past over 70 years. The thinking process has been that the brute majority of the population professing Islam, could be cajoled by concessions, freebies and regular lollypops, into being aligned to India rather than Pakistan, which is a fundamentalist Islamic nation. Misplaced reliance on a few corrupt Kashmiri Muslim families caused grave administrative and governance miscalculations, over the past several decades.
A major national disaster got averted with the revolutionary ascension of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, assisted by an able complement of ministers and bureaucrats. Kashmir has been compelled to march to the beat of a different tune. Far reaching administrative changes is redefining the Kashmir landscape from A to Z.
The earlier order of religious supremacy of Islam, hounding, killing and expelling religious minorities, adamant rejection of the Indian Republic, blatantly expressing a deferential alignment with Pakistan, connivance with Pakistan’s open Jihad against India, all are under check as of now. These actions were facilitated, supported and encouraged by injurious and retrograde provisions like Article 35A and Article 370, which thwarted the progress of Jammu and Kashmir, prevented the state from integration with India and ensured the stagnation of the State by a potpourri of fundamentalism, militancy, female repression, illiteracy and unbridled corruption by a few ruling elite Muslim families.
The Modi Government, literally cut the Gordian knot by rendering Article 370 inoperative in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The ill-conceived Article 370, combined with Article 35A, accorded Jammu and Kashmir special status under the Constitution of India, allowing it to have a separate constitution and a separate penal code among other legal distinctions.The Presidential Order of 2019 that superseded the one of 1954, startled the world, bringing an end to the inglorious separate constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and with it, the unwarranted special status that was misused continuously, for nearly seven decades, by a few corrupt families.
The winds of change are blowing across Kashmir, but fundamentalist elements from inside and from Pakistan are desperate to wreck the new initiatives. The advantage of a fundamentalist and military controlled government, like that in Pakistan, is their unfettered freedom to recruit, train and infiltrate heavily armed mercenaries into Kashmir. Their judiciary is impotent, media is supportive, and people acquiesce and connive, all in the name of aggrandizement of their religion. India, on the contrary is a chaotic democracy, government shackled by an unscrupulously greedy opposition, sold-out media, foreign funded NGO’s, assorted human rights organizations obsessed with defending rights of terrorists and terror organizations, slow-motion justice, and minority fearing politicians.
The problem to be tackled is the deeply entrenched religious fundamentalism in the Kashmir Valley. Islamic religious fundamentalism is a vexed problem across the world, it has defied any peaceful resolution. What can India do about it and save Kashmir?
The geo-political situation in the region continues to be volatile. Afghanistan is in utter chaos after America retreated ingloriously, and Pakistan is creaking with instability. The restless Taliban militants who have no engagement have already expressed their open willingness to meddle in Kashmir. These restless, illiterate and brutal fundamentalists, can be very complex to handle. Their victory in Afghanistan against the powerful Americans and their allies, has emboldened them to spread their geographical ambitions. The local Kashmiris will have no choice except to suffer the Afghans in the name of religious brotherhood. Just as America discovered that their awesome military might, weaponry and nukes was useless against an enemy of determined and crazy saboteurs, India also will not be able to flex much of its military muscle against terror groups.
There are an assortment of hardcore fundamentalists specialising in suicide attacks and targeted bombings. Not only the Minorities of Kashmir but Shia Muslims will also will be in the endangered list. The local Kashmiri Muslims will be just silent spectators, as their religious affinity will be an insurmountable hurdle for them.
How then do we solve this intractable problem? This writer is of the considered opinion that the issue to be addressed is how to crack the vexed problem of religious fundamentalism which critically affects some organized religions?
Presently, State governments continually keep appeasing the organized religions by liberally granting them freedom to convert Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, liberal pensions for religious priests, tax exemptions, subsidies, encouragement to study select foreign languages like Arabic and Persian, and absolute non-interference in their affairs. All this is a quid pro quo for garnering votes en masse of the followers of organized religions. This formula is going on undisturbed for the past over 70 years, and there is absolutely no sign of the largesse being discontinued. Rather, the scope is getting enlarged in the form of ingenious new additions and sops.
The root cause for this malaise is the hard-core religious indoctrination that the followers are compelled to undergo from childhood. By the time they enter their teens, they all develop varying degrees of fundamentalist streak in them. Unless this fundamentalism is neutralized, the country will continue to witness and suffer intolerance and violence.
A noteworthy aspect of the religious training imparted by organized religions is the total absence of spirituality and philosophical content. In fact, spirituality and philosophy are totally absent in organized religions. The government should modify the school and college syllabus to accommodate compulsory classes in spirituality, philosophy, ethics, and morality. Once there is exposure to a different stream of thought, the stern religious commandments and instructions of organized religions will be taken with a pinch of salt. This will be a major relief to governments not only in India but also in Europeand America, which are now experiencing fundamentalist violence, stubborn indiscipline, and dramatic demographic changes. Spiritual masters and their teachings in self-discovery will definitely result in ameliorating the stranglehold of organized religions which specialize in rigid beliefs, illogical interpretations, and frightening punishments.
Second reform needed is to make names of all educational institutions’ religion-neutral and ensure that statues, photographs, paintings, sayings, and all religious symbols are removed. This will ensure a religion-free atmosphere in places of learning and help in the development of the individual without any religious bias. There should be compulsory education in philosophy, morality and ethical behaviour for all students.
Third reform is to ensure that all educational institutions observe uniform holidays especially those related to religion. Presently, many organized private educational institutions give holidays only for their religious festivals. This creates a feeling of alienation and disrespect for other religions. The government can easily direct UGC, CBSE and other apex organizations to issue a uniform holiday list for compulsory observance by all educational institutions.
Fourth, most citizens are ignorant about the Kashmir issue. There needs to be a lesson in school/college about the Kashmir problem and the mistakes made by Indian politicians in handling the problem.The future generations should know what mistakes to avoid.
The students also need to be taught about the unique Shaiva-Shaktism concept which emerged in Kashmir known as Trika. They should know about scholar-siddhas, like Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta, Lalleshwari and Lakshmanjoo.How many of our students know that Kashmir is also referred to as Sharada Desha, and that the original name of Kashmir was Kashyapamar? We cannot blame the students, if we have not taught them to be proud of their ancestry, culture and traditions. Even the present history of the Kashmir dispute is not taught to the students, therefore many have no inkling what is the real issue there. This needs to be changed otherwise there is grave danger of future generations being ignorant of the geography and history of our nation.
Fifth, unlike countries like Israel, Singapore and partly USA, we don’t have a policy of compulsory military training for our youngsters. If not for every youth at least for all fresh government recruits at all levels, and students undergoing professional courses like medicine and engineering, should be made to undergo compulsory military service of one year and made to serve in forward areas of Kashmir, Indo-Pak border and Indo-China border for a minimum period of one year. A few civil services like IAS/IPS/IRS have a namesake Army attachment schedule of about two weeks, this needs to be replaced by a full-fledged military training and service in border areas for one full year. This will instil discipline and national integration at critical levels of administration. Similar military attachment in forward areas need to be enforced for parliamentarians, legislators, and of paramount importance for judicial officers. There needs to be a formidable phalanx of patriotic officers at every layer of administration, whether in the legislature, executive or judiciary.
Lastly, India needs to put in place a stiff National Population Policy. There is great fear among the general population that deliberate demographic growth is being engineered by a certain community, as a way for territorial expansion and extracting more concessions in exchange for votes. Infiltration by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas is complicating the scenario.
Occupation of public places for prayers is being seen by many sections as muscle-flexing and a threatening display of numerical strength. Massive new places of worship are sprouting in every town and village in the country, to the great discomfiture of many sections of the population, which is viewing such expansion as pre-planned silent invasion. This is not a phenomenon confined to India alone, it is happening globally.
This writer is refraining from dwelling on the military options in Kashmir, as the present government is committed to giving a befitting reply to any aggressor or militant or mercenary. Though our forces are better modernized and equipped and can give a befitting reply to any intruder, the internal security situation is very alarming. The investigations by central agencies are being sabotaged in many States, the Police is made to register false cases against the officers, and in many cases parallel investigations are being launched, to sabotage the case proceedings.
Even starlets, and small-time politicians’ cock-a-snook at Summons issued by Central agencies. Anticipatory bail provisions, feigning illness and hiding in hospitals, has become very popular modus-operandi to delay and sabotage investigations at the inception itself. It is imperative that central agencies and forces have over-riding powers and immunity from any kind of interference by any State agency and Police. Necessary changes should be introduced in the Central Acts. The power of the Courts to entertain Public Interest Litigation in cases of smuggling of drugs, arms, gold, fake currency and human trafficking should be curbed.
The government should identify a cluster of Terrorism and terror linked cases like narcotics trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, arms trafficking, gold and currency smuggling, terror related violence like bombings, hijacking and kidnapping, and treat these cases as Aggravated National Security Concern, and empower only Central agencies to probe, investigate and prosecute these cases. The State governments should have no jurisdiction in these cases whatsoever. Courts also need to be divested of all powers to hear these cases, instead a high-powered, multi-disciplinary Special Tribunal needs to be set up, to oversee investigation and prosecution, and only one appeal to the Supreme Court. In all these cases there should be an automatic detention of 30 days, only thereafter a Bail can be considered. There should be no scope for any midnight bail hearing in residences of judges, no out of turn hearing for anybody, and all trial should be in-camera. All members of this Tribunal, government lawyers and lawyers of the defendant party should be made to undergo periodic Internal and External Security Awareness Training Programs, for broad appreciation of issues and concern for national security.
Safeguarding our geographical expanse should be made a fundamental duty of every Indian. The following verse from the Vishnu Purana, should be taught in every school/college, along with the student’s pledge, in order to uphold the integrity of this sacred country.
Describing the vast expanse ofthis country, the Holy Vishnu Purana says, ‘to the north of the ocean and to the south of the Himalayas, Bharat is the country and the people born there are the Bharatees’:
‘Uttaram yat samudrasya,
Himadreshchaiv dakshinam,
varsham tad bharatam nama,
Bharatee yatra santatihi’.
This verse should be taught in every school/college, along with the students pledge in order to uphold the integrity of this sacred country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh).
Jai Hind
The author Dr G Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd) Ph. D (Narcotics), is
Dr G Shreekumar Menon can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com
Dr G Shreekumar Menon
We live in an age and in a society that has become addicted to luxuries and enjoyment. Young children are being pampered and mollycoddled without any limits by their parents. Man youngsters are leading, what is known as a ‘champagne lifestyle’, enjoying life to the hilt, splurging on expensive lifestyles, and impulse buying. We are seeing a new generation of youngsters getting used to a lifestyle of never-ending parties, eating exotic foods at expensive restaurants, splurging on imported fast cars, high-speed bikes, branded perfumes, branded clothing and of course sexy females. Social media is constantly promoting the new products flooding the market. But what these youngsters fail to realize is that life cannot be just one long story of luxurious experiences. All these extravagant habits need a constant infusion of funds. The day the funds dry up, the fabulous life style simply evaporates. Only one luxurious habit adheres faithfully- the esoteric consumption of narcotic drugs, that will send the person finally to jail, or hospital or grave.
Daily we watch on TV and read in the media, the arrests of many youngsters, film stars, fashion models and many others who have never done a decent day’s work in their life. Their decadent lifestyles will ensure that in the coming decades we are going to witness a large number of middle-aged people who are addicted to strong narcotic drugs.
Youngsters are on the look-out for safe hideouts to enjoy their drug consumption habit. Remote resorts, houseboats, jungle resorts and currently in the news is are cruise ship. India does not have many cruise ships plying, and the cost of a trip is pretty expensive. But it is a safe location where revellers can pursue their merry making away from the prying eyes of the law.
The current case of a rave party on a cruise ship and the alleged involvement of a son of a prominent film star, has put the spotlight on cruise ship parties. Drugs reported to have been seized by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are multiple banned drugs such as cocaine, MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), mephedrone and charas
during the raid.
Cruise ships cross international and national jurisdictions, visiting many different ports on their voyage, hence are ideal for holding discreet drug parties, as travellers are in a vacation mood and eager for enjoyment and entertainment. Drug traffickers place drug couriers on board the cruise ship, and what better choice than glamourous models and starlets.
Cruise ships are routinely used for a variety of smuggling and illegal activities. Though they operate in a controlled environment and all passengers, crew, baggage and luggage are screened prior to boarding, searching for contraband drugs is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Though cruise lines are monitored by national and international security and law enforcement authorities to ensure passenger security, detection of contraband by physical checks is extremely difficult. Screening of luggage is done by a variety of methods including X-ray, magnetometer, and K9 (Police Dogs), but these are not fool-proof.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) also has substantial guidelines to prevent smuggling, but these are all violated across the globe. Drug smuggling by cruise ships is a low-cost, high-risk and potentially high-reward business model. The concealment possibilities on board a cruise liner and a container cargo vessel is limitless. Common places of concealment are vessel’s anchor compartment, ship hulls, vents along ship hulls, water inlets, fuel tanks, engine room, propellers, and store room. Containers filled with drugs are attached to the bottom of the ship hulls with rope so that illicit loads may be cut off at high sea if Customs authorities or Coast Guard get too close.
When cruise ships are used to smuggle drugs, it is very plausible that the crew may have no idea whatsoever that drugs are on board. Port staff may be involved, such as a stevedore agent who have access to many parts of the vessel and can move around without raising suspicion. Glamour girls and girls from the entertainment industry can act as perfect peddlers on board the ship as it will not arouse any suspicion.
Professional traffickers often target crew members and befriend them and lure them to trafficking in drugs.
Ship crew are much preferred by drug- traffickers, as they have specific access to many sensitive hiding places on board, for example tanks, enclosed spaces and storerooms. Machinery spaces are most suitable for secreting illicit material. Even if the crew member is not the actual courier, they can facilitate the passage of drugs on and off the ship.
Customs check of shipping vessels is a highly specialized job. All major Customs formations in India have a Rummaging & Intelligence department, which is tasked with the responsibility of checking all ocean-going vessels. In a typical rummage, the entire suspect vessel/ship has to be thoroughly searched for prohibited and restricted goods (viz. drugs, arms & ammunitions, counterfeit currency, pornographic materials, seditious literature and other goods which have not been declared), which have been concealed in various parts of the ship/vessel which include the engine room, the bridge, officers and crew quarters, cargo hatches, lockers, life boats, and panelling of cabins. The officers of the rummaging team have in law full access to each part of the ship/vessel and have the right to break open and search any place, box, etc. to which the access is denied or obstructed. However, it is not possible to do a hundred per cent check of an entire ship, whether cruise or cargo. Reliable information from an authentic source is needed for doing any detailed examination.
Drug couriers are known as ‘Mules’ among enforcement agencies. There is an increasing trend all over the globe to employ glamour girls, film stars and fashion models as mules. The advantage is that they tend to breeze through all checks because of their glamour aura. If they are VIP’s they are ushered through after a cursory check. Drug smuggling is a long and continuous occurrence and the endless battle against it will go on.
What should be more worrying for enforcement agencies is the prospect of weapons smuggling using celebrities and cruise ships. While examples of weapons smuggling on cruises are still not common, terror groups will certainly explore this new avenue.
Our enforcement agencies need to be strengthened and be on high alert.
The author Dr G Shreekumar Menon, IRS (Rtd) Ph. D (Narcotics), is
Dr G Shreekumar Menon can be contacted at shreemenon48@gmail.com
Newsroom24x7 Network
New Delhi: NIA filed supplementary charge sheet before the NIA Special Court, Patiala House, New Delhi against an accused person namely Mohd. Shahzad Kamal under section 121 of IPC and 17, 18, 39 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, on Tuesday 26 October 2021,
The case RC-38/2018/NIA/DLI was registered by NIA on 20 December 2018 against Mohd. Mufti Suhail and others members of Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam, an organisation affiliated to the proscribed organisation ISIS. Earlier Charge sheet was filed against ten arrested accused persons in the instant case on 21 June 2019.
Investigation has revealed that the arrested accused Mohd. Shahzad Kamal was involved in conspiracy since its initial stage along with other co-accused persons. He was instrumental in arranging and providing funds from Saudi Arabia for furtherance of terrorist activities of Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam.
NIA Special Court in Delhi sentences four Hizbul Mujahiddeen operatives
On Monday 25 October 2021 NIA Special Court, Delhi announced sentence against the four accused persons convicted on 27 September 2021 in JAKART case (RC 11/2011/NIA/DLI) unde Sections 120 B IPC, 121A IPC & sec17,18,18A, 18B, 20,38 & 40 UA(P)Act.
The convicted accused Mohammad Shafi Shah @ Doctor, @ Dawood, @ Nisar has been sentenced withRI 12 years and fine Rs. 15000/-; Talib Lali @ Waseem @ Abu Umer, sentenced with RI 10 years and fine Rs. 10000/-; Muzaffar Ahmad Dar @ Gaznavi, @ Mohd Ali sentenced with RI 12 years and fine Rs. 15000/- and Mushtaq Ahmad Lone @ Mushtaq Aalam sentenced with RI 10 years and fine Rs. 10000/-
This case was registered by NIA at New Delhi on 25.10.2011 against Mohd. Yusuf Shah @ Syed Salahuddin and others, who as members of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM ) were carrying out terrorist activities in India and regularly receiving funds from neighbouring jurisdiction. The funds so collected by HM through Jammu Kashmir Affecters Relief Trust (JKART), an NGO and frontal organization of HM, were being given to active terrorists and families of killed terrorists of HM in J&K.
After investigation, 12 accused were charge sheeted in this case. Four have been convicted and sentenced and remaining 8 accused are active cadres of HM including Syed Salauddin; who are absconding and currently based in Pakistan.
NIA Arrests ISIS Operative
NIA on Saturday 23 October 2021 arrested an ISIS operative Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood (33), resident of Bengaluru, in thw ISIS/ISIL/DAESH conspiracy case (RC-33/2020/NIA/DLI).
NIA had registered a case under section 120B, 125 of IPC & Section 17, 18 & 18B of UA (P) Act against Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood, Zuhab Hameed @ Shakeel Manna, Irfan Nasir & Mohd Shihab for having affiliation with the banned terrorist organisations ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.
During investigation NIA had earlier arrested two accused Ahamed Abdul Cader & Irfan Nasir who were charge-sheeted on 1 April 2021.
Further Investigation has revealed that accused Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood in association with coaccused persons had raised funds, radicalized and recruited gullible Muslim youth of a Quran Circle group and illegally sent them to Syria to join ISIS. Earlier In 2013, Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood along with his associate had also visited Syria illegally to liaise with Daesh leadership and had offered support from Indian Muslims.
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