SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Starlink’s secret pillars have been shut down in India, a response to claims that his gadgets are being used in militant Manipur. Recently, security forces have seized some internet gadgets along with weapons and ammunition during an attack at Kerao Khunou in Imphal East region. The Indian Army’s Stick Corps had shared pictures of the items seized at X, and social media users immediately noticed that one of the gadgets had a “Starlink logo” on it. Pointing to this, a X user posted, “@Starlink is being used by terrorists. Hopefully Elon @elonmusk will investigate this and help prevent misuse of this technology.” Mr Musk responded, “This is wrong. Starlink secret pillars have been shut down in India.” The items seized from Kerao Khunou included “an internet partisan receiving wire, an internet secret switch and 20 meters (approximately) FTP cable”, according to the state police. Officials said the recovery of gadgets like Starlink has prompted agencies to investigate how the equipment reached the conflict-torn state.
Mr Musk’s Starlink, which offers advanced internet services, does not have a licence to operate in India.