Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Before they launched an attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on August 28, terrorists used the popular video game PUBG’s features to avoid being tracked by Pakistan intelligence officials, the media reported on Monday.
According to the English daily Dawn, terrorists used features from PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (PUBG), a popular video game, to attack a police station in Swat.
They used PUBG’s chat room for communication, which allowed them to avoid electronic surveillance and tracking by Pakistani security agencies.
On August 28, terrorists attacked the Banr police station in Swat, killed a policeman, and injured two others.
While officials identified a suspect using a mobile phone, which they thought could lead them to the terrorists, the attackers exploited PUBG’s features to evade detection, instead of using conventional communication methods.
Police said the terrorists not only created a chat room on PUBG for communication and exchanging messages, but they also played the game to “practice and motivate their group members” for launching the attack. Tracking down and apprehending them was initially challenging due to the lack of direct evidence.
These terrorists were members of a local group known as the Rahmatullah, group, affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Murad, the group’s leader, along with the family members of the other suspected militants, lives in Afghanistan.
Officials said the terrorists were traced through several hours of monitoring CCTV footage from various surveillance cameras.
Investigators initially focused on a motorbike seen in CCTV footage passing in front of the police station shortly before the explosion and suspected that a hand grenade was used to attack the police station. But this was not the case.
It was challenging to determine exactly what weapon was used in the attack, as there was no tangible evidence to suggest the use of a grenade.
Instead, according to an officer, the militants had used an “improvised explosive device,” (IED), made using a power bank, which is widely used for charging mobile phones. The officer added that at least one of the suspected militants was eventually traced through multiple CCTV recordings.
The accused reportedly revealed the identities of two other suspected militants, who were subsequently apprehended. They avoided using common communication methods, frequently changing their mobile phones and SIM cards.
The family members of the suspected militants were also involved in militant activities and wanted by Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
The families of the suspected militants had escaped Operation Rah-i-Rast, a military campaign against militants in Swat in 2009.
Officials said approximately 2,000 militant families from Swat are currently residing in Afghanistan.