Pakistan trying to disturb peace in J&K through social media: DGP

Stating that Pakistan is leaving no stone un-turned to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir through social media, Director General Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh Wednesday said that action is being taken against those who are misusing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

“We have evidence whereby social media was used through VPNs to tell militants to carry out attacks at certain places. On priority, we are targeting such misuse of social media,” he told reporters, here.

Quoting examples of misuse of social media, the DGP said, “The driver of the truck which was carrying militants at Nagrota (Jammu) sent a photograph to his handlers in Pakistan the moment his vehicle was intercepted at the naka.”

“We have to differentiate between use and misuse. When someone misuses the social media, there will be no room for leniency. You should be thankful that you are able to use it,” Singh added.

For the last one week, police is cracking down on VPN apps used to circumvent a month-long ban on social media. Social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are still blocked, even after the government restored limited mobile data service and the internet in Kashmir, so residents use VPNs or proxy servers to bypass the restrictions.