Govt probing if Starlink used in Manipur

Central agencies are conducting a probe to check the potential usage of Starlink internet services in Manipur after security forces recovered an antenna and router in the strife-torn state last month, officials aware of the matter said.

Officials said that a team of Assam Rifles personnel seized the devices in Imphal East district of the state on December 13 during a search and cordon operation at a camp operated by the militant group People’s Liberation Army (PLA). An official aware of the development said that a team of experts from Delhi, accompanied by the Manipur Police, took the recovered satellite devices to the spot where they were found to test if they worked.

“The device was recovered from the Imphal East hideout of a militant camp,” the official cited above said on condition of anonymity. “The experts from New Delhi have confirmed that the device did not work in that spot (during testing) or any other area in Imphal. But, they are conducting tests in the fringe areas of the state before completing their probe.”

The official website of Starlink currently shows that the internet service is “pending regulatory approval” in India.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has also dismissed reports of the internet service being available in India. “Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India,” he had said on December 17 in response to a question raised by an X user over the alleged usage of the technology in Manipur.

Security forces suspect the recovered devices may have been smuggled from Myanmar.

They said that if militant groups are using Starlink, then it could pose a challenge as it allows them to easily communicate with their cadres from remote areas without being traced.

Both Manipur police and the state government did not comment on the probe.