How Chinese cloud helped Pak's ISI tap into CCTV cameras, track Army movements

The CCTV cameras that were seized in a major Delhi Police operation against an alleged interstate espionage, terror, and arms module, were powered by the Chinese EseeCloud system, sources from the security agencies told India Today.

They further mentioned that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) resorted to this low-cost, deniable surveillance grid to rebuild its tracking system after the loss of its traditional intelligence capabilities during Operation Sindoor.

A few days back, the Special Cell of Delhi Police unearthed an overt surveillance network involving several solar-powered CCTV cameras. The module was found to have a link with a Pakistan-based Khalistani terror outfit, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). This came a month after the Ghaziabad Police uncovered a similar module operating in the Delhi-NCR area. The gang associated with the module was attempting to install cameras at 50 key locations, including railway stations and army routes.

Investigations further confirmed that at least two cameras had been successfully installed: one at Delhi Cantonment Railway Station and another at Sonipat Railway Station, the latter of which had been streaming live footage for over a fortnight before its removal on March 18.

The back-to-back operations took place after the G branch of the BSF Punjab unit first became aware of the CCTV plans in January this year, after a deep asset in Pakistan informed the security agency that the CCTV operation was underway. Subsequently, it alerted authorities about the breach.

SECURITY AGENCIES SCRUTINISE CCTV NETWORKS

Following the dismantling of the espionage module, security agencies have initiated a comprehensive overhaul of the CCTV network across Delhi, specifically targeting equipment with Chinese links, sources mentioned.

While internal Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) installations are protected by a mandatory Made in India procurement clause, officials expressed grave concern over identical Chinese technology used by civilians near military zones.

Highlighting the need to sanitise both internal and external perimeters, sources recalled that during Operation Sindoor, Pakistani Intelligence Officers (PIOs) desperately attempted to harvest convoy data from toll plazas—a vulnerability that modern, civilian-installed CCTVs could now exacerbate.

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