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Up loaded on Thursday February 25, 2010
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Illegal radio stations operating in West Bengal,suppressingPrasar Bharati signals.
In what may pose a major security risk, eight illegal high frequency [sic] radio stations are functioning in the marshy Sunderbans in West Bengal, airing programmes in unidentified languages and suppressing Prasar Bharati signals.
Police and intelligence officials are now investigating these channels’ involvement in spreading coded messages to Maoist workers and sympathisers suspected to be operating from some sub-divisional towns in South 24 Parganas district of the state. Since the medium wave signals suppress Prasar Bharati signals, many a time fishermen going to the sea daily are also unable to hear the weather bulletin and cyclone alerts. The transmission took place mostly on four specific frequencies allotted to Prasar Bharati by the Wireless Planning Commission (WPC).
With unusual names like Ma Nachinda betar kendra, Ma Manasa betar kendra, Ma tara, Jai Ma bhabani, these unauthorised stations broadcast songs, movie dialogues and local advertisements in Bengali and Oriya as the signals can be picked up in South 24 Paraganas as well as East and West Midnapur districts.
WPC located some illegal radio stations in Midnapur two years ago. In 2008, the police raided six unauthorised private radio stations in South 24 Paraganas. The offenders were booked under the Indian Telegraphic Act and other laws. Within a few months eight new stations cropped up.
And this time, the programme is being aired in an unidentified language from different locations besides the regular Bengali and Oriya transmissions. “It sounds like Santhali. But I don’t know Santhali that well and cannot vouch for it. We could also not figure out where the signals originate from,” said one of the two amateur radio operators who tipped off the police and monitors the programming.
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